LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Job Losses (Civil Servants)

Nigel Evans: To ask the Leader of the House how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Office announced in the comprehensive spending review will be of special advisers.

Peter Hain: I refer the hon. Member to the answer which my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary to the Treasury gave today.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Climate Change

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the terms of reference are for the review of the Government's climate change strategy; what procedures she has established for the conduct of the review; and when she expects to publish the final report.

Elliot Morley: The Government remain committed to reviewing the UK climate change programme this year. We will be making an announcement shortly on our plans for the review.

Common Agricultural Policy

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what research her Department has commissioned on the implications of Common Agricultural Policy reform; and when she next plans to meet her European Union counterparts to discuss Common Agricultural Policy reform.

Alun Michael: Defra commissioned several analyses of the likely impacts of the reform proposals before they were agreed, to help inform the Government's negotiating position. In addition analysis of the redistribution of subsidy and other effects arising from implementation of the Single Payment Scheme in England was carried out in-house. These studies are all published on Defra's website. A programme to monitor and evaluate the CAP reforms is also being put in place. This will include a CAP Environmental Observatory to monitor the environmental impacts of changing farm practices and production levels, and a project to analyse the economic linkages of the agricultural industry, including the Single Payment Scheme, with the wider rural economy.
	My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, met her European counterparts at the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council on 19 July, where she set out the UK's views on reform of the CAP sugar regime and on proposals to review the EU's Rural Development Regulation—an increasingly important element of the CAP.

Health and Pesticide Exposure

Paul Tyler: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs when she expects the report of the survey of Health and Pesticide Exposure, undertaken by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to be published; and if she will make a statement.

Alun Michael: The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine sent a preliminary report to Defra on the afternoon of Tuesday 13 July 2004.
	This is a preliminary draft that has not yet been subject to peer review, as is usual prior to the publication of any scientific report. We are currently seeking independent experts to carry out such a review. We will send their comments to the researcher at London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, inviting him to address them in his final report. This may necessitate redrafting the report. We hope that this process will be completed by the end of October.
	Defra is also continuing to seek the contractor's co-operation with an independent audit of the clinical phase of the study. This was described in my answer to the hon. Member's previous question given on 26 May 2004. It is hoped that this will be completed by late autumn this year.

Landfill Gas

Richard Ottaway: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many megawatts of renewable energy were generated from landfill gas in each year since 1998; and what projections she has made of how much renewable energy will be generated from landfill gas in each year from 2005 to 2010.

Stephen Timms: I have been asked to reply.
	Electricity generation from landfill gas in the UK in each year since 1998 is as follows:
	
		
			  MWh 
		
		
			 1998 1,185,000 
			 1999 1,703,000 
			 2000 2,188,000 
			 2001 2,507,000 
			 2002 2,679,000 
			 2003 3,276,000 
		
	
	Source:
	Digest of UK Energy Statistics 2004
	Forecasts of renewables are not giving for individual technologies because the Renewables Obligation is market led and therefore the precise make up in the future will be decided by the market.

Milk

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many litres of liquid milk were imported into the UK from EU countries in each of the last five years, broken down by country of origin.

Alun Michael: pursuant to his reply, 20 May 2004, c. 1110W
	My answer referred to a table showing UK imports of liquid milk from the EU 15 member states in each of the last five years to 2003, broken down by country of despatch and a footnote made clear that the figures were provisional and subject to amendment. It has since been established that a figure under the 2003 entry for the Irish Republic was incorrect. The figure should have read 19,494 thousand litres. The rest of the answer remains correct and the amended table is as follows:
	
		UK imports of liquid milk from EU15 countries, 1999–2003 -- Thousand litres
		
			 Country 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Grand total 
		
		
			 Irish Republic 60,342 60,199 54,835 26,233 19,494 221,103 
			 Denmark 30,334 25,166 9,421 795 425 66,140 
			 Germany 17,078 19,531 11,196 5,629 3,888 57,323 
			 France 13,288 8,514 9,667 10,299 8,600 50,368 
			 Belgium 6,786 6,922 3,811 2,345 3,759 23,624 
			 Netherlands 3,620 462 919 2,198 1,027 8,227 
			 Austria 2,844 1,355 — — — 4,200 
			 Italy 114 214 91 101 70 590 
			 Portugal — 0 — — 40 40 
			 Spain 23 14 — — — 37 
			 Sweden 1 — — — — 1 
			 EU 15 total 134,431 122,378 89,940 47,600 37,303

Single Farm Payments

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what conclusions she has reached about the future prospects for (a) tenant farmers, (b) livestock farmers, (c) arable farmers, (d) horticulture producers, (e) moorland farmers, (f) non-moorland, severely disadvantaged area farmers, (g) traditional family farms and (h) all other farms following her Department's published assessment of the likely impact of her plans for the future disbursement of single farm payments.

Alun Michael: By decoupling subsidy and implementing the Single Payment Scheme in England, as announced on 22 April, the Government are providing a policy framework conducive to encouraging enterprise and market orientation in line with the Strategy for Sustainable Food and Farming. Future prospects for agriculture depend on various factors but the Government are optimistic that farmers and growers will rise to the challenges and opportunities that present themselves.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

House of Commons (Administration) Act 1978

Alan Whitehead: To ask the hon. Member for Roxburgh and Berwickshire representing the House of Commons Commission if he will review the workings of the House of Commons (Administration) Act 1978 in the light of progress with the implementation of the Braithwaite Report on the structures and procedures of the House, with particular reference to the recommendation contained in it that there should be a further review in about five years from July 1999.

Archy Kirkwood: Almost all the recommendations of the 1999 Braithwaite Report have been implemented by the House of Commons Commission. There has been continuing follow-up, including review of estates and works, and reporting services. The Commission frequently discusses House governance issues; most recently, at its June and July meetings, considering the recommendations of a major review of IS/IT governance, which will be taken forward in consultation with the Information Committee and the authorities of the House of Lords. In the circumstances, I see no current need for a broader review.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

AIDS

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action the Government are taking to tackle the problem of AIDS worldwide.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: I refer my hon. Friend to the written statement made by the Secretary of State to the House earlier today and to the Government's new Strategy 'Taking Action: The UK's Strategy for Tackling HIV/AIDS in the Developing World' copies of which have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Empty Houses

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development for how many empty houses his Department is responsible; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID is not responsible for any empty houses.

Haiti

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what action he is taking to address the long-term causes of environmental vulnerability of poor communities in Haiti and the Dominican Republic following the recent flooding and landslides in the border region between the two countries.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID responded swiftly to the recent floods in Hispaniola providing £0.5 million of immediate humanitarian support to the relief operation in Haiti through the United Nations and non-governmental organisations. £259,400 of this money will go in support of emergency programmes to re-launch agricultural production and help provide food security, water and sanitation, distribution of non-food items and interventions in emergency education.
	The longer-term reconstruction and development needs of Haiti have recently been assessed, costed and set out in a two-year Interim Co-operation Framework covering the period July 2004 to September 2006. One of its specific priority sectors is environmental protection and rehabilitation. An International Donor Conference will take place on 19–20 July in Washington DC at which donors will pledge financial support to Haiti. The UK will participate in this Conference. DFID's financial contribution will be through the EU and shareholdings in the World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.
	In the Dominican Republic, DFID provides support through a small grants scheme, which assists non-government organisations to target poverty reduction.

Haiti

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking to measure the criterion the Department set itself in its current Regional Assistance Plan for the Caribbean of improved understanding of Haiti's situation and options for recovery.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: DFID undertook a fact-finding mission to Haiti in June 2003, in order to become familiar with the situation on the ground. In 2004 DFID sent two missions to Haiti to assess the humanitarian situation, following the political violence and instability in the first quarter of 2004, and the floods in May.
	DFID works closely with an international network of bilateral and multilateral institutions working to support Haiti, including the Haiti Contact Group co-ordinated by the World Bank. The UK will be represented at the upcoming International Donors Conference on Haiti, to be held in Washington on July 19 and 20, which will focus on securing donor support for the Interim Co-operation Framework.
	DFID also maintains contact with civil society organisations in order to get their perspective on the situation in Haiti. DFID officials met with UK NGOs working in Haiti in May 2004 and DFID receives regular information from civil society organisations through various channels, including the Haiti Support Group.

Haiti

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how he will work with the EU to ensure that EU aid to the interim Haitian Government is conditional on ensuring that the aid is directed towards those most in need.

Mr. Gareth Thomas: The provision of EU aid to Haiti under the European Development Fund (EOF) has been subject to constraints applied by member states within the Common Position since January 2001. EOF 8 funds have only been available for civil society projects and electoral support. On 16 July, the appropriate measures put in place by the EU in relation to Haiti under Article 96 of the Cotonou agreement were amended and the European Commission will notify the interim Haitian Government of the funds available under EOF 9.
	EU development assistance can be provided only after free and fair elections have been held. Once funds start to flow, DFID will monitor how these are spent as part of our continuing watching brief on Haiti. DFID will be particularly keen to ensure that poverty reduction is the principal focus of this assistance.

Haiti

Anthony Steen: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps he is taking for immediate release of funds for Haiti under the European Development Fund (EDF 9).

Mr. Gareth Thomas: €27 million from EDF 8 will continue to support programmes of direct benefit to the population of Haiti through civil society organisation and the electoral process.
	On 16 July, the European Council agreed that the appropriate measures, which had been in place by the EU in relation to Haiti under Article 96 of the Cotonou Agreement, should be amended. This decision means that the European Commission will now notify the interim Haitian Government of the level of funding under EOF 9 which is available to Haiti, and will proceed to draft the new Country Strategy Paper.
	Under EOF 9, €95 million is available to Haiti. Of this €72 million cannot be disbursed until the Country Strategy Paper is developed, and free and fair elections have been held. At this point the National Indicative Programme will be prepared which sets out how the detail of these funds will be used. The other €23 million, under EOF 9, can be released prior to the signing of the National Indicative Programme.

Kenya

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions he has had with the Kenyan Government on assistance on their current budget deficits; and if he will make a statement.

Hilary Benn: DFID is in regular contact with the Kenyan Government on this issue. DFID's Kenya Country Assistance Plan recognises that budget support is Kenya's preferred form of aid. It also makes clear that the level of British aid to Kenya, and whether or not DFID will provide bilateral poverty reduction budget support, will depend on the pace with which the Kenyan Government implements its Economic Recovery Strategy, especially in tackling corruption, preparing and implementing budgets that benefit the poor, and strengthening public financial management.
	Progress is not yet sufficient to enable us to provide such support. DFID is particularly concerned about recent reports of corruption allegedly involving senior members of the Kenyan Government and we have urged President Kibaki to ensure that appropriate and firm action is taken to investigate these reports, make the results public and take action against all those found to have acted corruptly. However, DFID will continue to use sectoral support and project aid where we believe that it can have a sustainable impact on poverty reduction and progress towards the Millennium Development Goals in Kenya.

TRANSPORT

Rail Services (Southampton)

John Denham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what discussions he has had with the Strategic Rail Authority regarding rail routes from Southampton to the midlands; and if he will make a statement.

Kim Howells: Ministers and officials in my Department meet regularly with the Strategic Rail Authority about a wide range of issues.
	The Government have set out their long-term proposals for passenger and freight services in the "Future of Rail" White Paper.

West Coast Main Line

John Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on improvements to the west coast main line.

Kim Howells: The West Coast Upgrade is being delivered in line with the Strategy published by the Strategic Rail Authority in June 2003. New tilting trains have entered service, and a new timetable will be introduced in September this year with enhanced service frequencies and reduced journey times. Further improvements will follow in 2005 and 2008.

Community Transport

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport support he has given to community transport in South Derbyshire.

Tony McNulty: Most of the capital funding for local transport provided by the Department is allocated through Local Transport Plans, and so it is for the Local Transport Authorities to determine how these resources are best used to serve local priorities. This year we have, however, made £465,750 available through the Rural Bus Challenge Programme to support the Southern Derbyshire Rural Access Initiative

National Railcard

Lawrie Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement on the proposed introduction of a national railcard.

Tony McNulty: My right hon. Friend has asked the Strategic Rail Authority and the industry to work up proposals for a national railcard. The SRA is currently taking this forward and I expect to receive advice later this year.

Road Safety

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many crashes involving vehicles on the hard shoulder of motorways occurred in the last year for which figures are available.

David Jamieson: The number of personal injury accidents that occurred on hard shoulders of English trunk motorways in 2002, the latest year for which validated data is available, was 104.
	The provisional number of personal injury accidents that occurred on these motorway hard shoulders in 2003 was 73.
	No records are kept of non-injury accidents.

Seafaring Ratings

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to make a decision on whether to introduce an employment and training link for UK seafaring ratings and officers as part of the tonnage tax regime.

David Jamieson: The tonnage tax regime is under review and representations have been invited by the end of September. The possibility of an employment link is one of the issues that has already been raised. We will announce our conclusions when all of the representations have been carefully considered.

Airport Noise

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent representations he has received about the need for noise controls near regional airports.

Tony McNulty: Although from time to time the Department receives representations about noise control measures at various regional airports, recent representations have mostly been about Nottingham East Midlands Airport. The Government's conclusions on proposals to tackle operational aircraft noise from civil aircraft were published in December 2003.

Camera Safety Partnerships

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to publicise his Department's guidelines for the operation of camera safety partnerships.

David Jamieson: The current handbook of rules and guidelines for the operation of the safety camera cost recovery programme was placed in the Library of the House on 5 December 2003. The handbook is currently being updated for 2005–06. The new handbook will be placed in the House Library and published on the DfT website.

Camera Safety Partnerships

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what monitoring processes are in place to ensure that his Department's guidelines for the operation of camera safety partnerships are observed.

Kim Howells: The programme rules require the safety camera partnerships' accounts to be audited annually by the audit commission. Partnerships must also provide regular data to the Department on numbers of collisions and casualties. An independent report on the first three years of the operation of the safety camera programme by University College London and PA Consulting Group was published on 15 June, confirming the major reduction in collisions, deaths and casualties achieved at camera sites.

Camera Safety Partnerships

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the level of public awareness of the guidelines that are in force for the operation of camera safety partnerships.

David Jamieson: The criteria for the deployment of safety camera and the rules on camera conspicuity and visibility rules have been placed on the DfT website. The University College London and PA Consulting Group report on the first three years of the safety camera programme, published on 15 June, includes a description of the programme and the key rules and guidelines, and this is also available on the DfT website.

Camera Safety Partnerships

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much money was received by central Government in 2003 in fines paid by motorists who were prosecuted for speeding as a result of the evidence of fixed cameras.

David Jamieson: holding answer 21 June 2004
	During the financial year 2002–03, the latest year for which figures are available, the amount of conditional offer fixed penalty fines relating to speed and red light safety cameras within the safety camera programme was £68,872,320. From this amount, £54,256,502 was returned to the Safety Camera Partnerships to cover their costs. We do not hold information centrally for camera operations other than those operated within the Safety Camera Partnerships. Neither is information held centrally on the amount of fines raised as a result of court proceedings.
	Figures for fixed cameras alone are not separately available.

Commercial Vehicles (Safety)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he expects the Highways Agency to publish its report on safety of commercial vehicles; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The Highways Agency intends to publish a report on its Study of Trunk Road Accidents Involving Goods Vehicles early in 2005.
	The Highways Agency is currently undertaking research into accidents involving Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). The work is not yet complete but the initial findings suggest that there are a number of complex and interrelated issues involved with HGV accidents.

Diesel Deposits (Prosecutions)

Vera Baird: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many prosecutions there have been in each of the last five years as a direct result of a vehicle depositing diesel on the road.

David Jamieson: The information requested is not collected by my Department in this format.
	In 2002–03 the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency tested 466,000 heavy goods vehicles, 4,673 of which failed due to faults with the fuel system and also with oil leaks. During the same period 2,031 HGVs were given a prohibition for faults to the fuel system or for oil leaks at the roadside.

Harwich

Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding has been spent in the Harwich constituency from the Local Transport Plan.

Tony McNulty: The constituency of Harwich falls within the Essex Local Transport Plan area. Essex has been allocated £109 million of local transport plan funding since 2000.
	Decisions on how much of this funding is spent in Harwich are a matter for the authorities concerned.

Infrastructure/Services (Storm Damage)

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what research his Department has commissioned on preventative measures to restrict damage to transport (a) infrastructure and (b) services caused by adverse weather conditions.

David Jamieson: The Department has commissioned a number of projects addressing the impact of adverse weather conditions on transport infrastructure and services. This includes the following recent projects:
	(a) Infrastructure
	Investigation of the value for money of winter maintenance
	Prevention and removal of snow and ice on roads
	De-icing of modern surfaces
	Salt spread rates for thin surfacings
	Low humidity salting
	New de-icers for Midland Links
	Review of flooding incidents on the (HA) network
	Slope stability and establishment of vegetation
	Revision of wind data for BS5400
	The Changing Climate: Impact on the DfT
	(b) Services
	Performance of variable message signs in adverse weather conditions
	High Speed Craft Wind Heeling Moment Methodology
	Integrated Safety Guards and Spray Suppression for Heavy Goods Vehicles
	The majority of the projects are funded by the Highways Agency and further information can be obtained from their website www.highways.gov.uk. The remaining projects are funded by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency and DfT(C) with further information available at www.mcga.gov.uk and www.dft.gov.uk respectively.

MOT Certificates

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether cars registered in England, but whose MOT vehicle test certificate expires during their stay in Northern Ireland, will be exempt from prosecution (a) while in Northern Ireland and (b) immediately on their return to England where the vehicle owner can demonstrate that the reason for not having their vehicle examined was due to the industrial action of Northern Ireland civil servants; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: holding answer 16 July 2004
	The industrial action in Northern Ireland would have no impact on cars registered in Great Britain as such vehicles can only be MOT tested here. If the MOT certificate expires during a stay in Northern Ireland, the driver of the vehicle could face prosecution in the Province. On returning to GB, the vehicle would be exempt from the requirement to hold a MOT certificate provided it was driven directly to a pre-arranged MOT test.

Motorways (Traffic Officers)

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many traffic officers have been deployed on motorways in England; and where they have been deployed.

David Jamieson: There are currently 92 traffic officers, both on the road and in the control room, responsible for motorway patrols in the West Midlands. This will increase to 180 by the end of the year.

Nottingham East Midlands Airport

Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  whether an assessment has been made of the environmental impact of the proposed new noise preference routing (a) pole and (b) Trent 2 over southern and western Nottinghamshire for aircraft using Nottingham East Midlands Airport;
	(2)  whether the proposed flight path(a) pole and (b) Trent 2 over southern and western Nottinghamshire for aircraft using Nottingham East Midlands Airport has been agreed;
	(3)  whether he will impose time restrictions on using the flight path (a) pole and (b) Trent 2 over south west Nottinghamshire for aircraft using Nottingham East Midlands Airport to ban night flights between 11 pm and 6 am.

Kim Howells: These proposed airspace changes have been the subject of an environmental assessment by Nottingham East Midlands Airport (NEMA). After careful examination of the proposals, the Department is satisfied that they provide a safe and effective solution for all airspace users in the East Midlands, while mitigating the environmental impact to the greatest extent possible. Officials have conveyed this response to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). It will then be for the CAA to agree the changes with NEMA.
	In order to mitigate the environmental impact of the new POLE Standard Instrument Departure route and following consultation, NEMA have given an undertaking that the route will not be used between the hours of 2200 and 0600. The Northwest bound Trent route has been realigned to avoid over-flight of Derby, which would represent a significant net environmental benefit.

Nottingham East Midlands Airport

Kenneth Clarke: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what representations have been made to him from councils in Nottinghamshire about the proposed new flight paths over southern and western Nottinghamshire for aircraft using Nottingham East Midlands Airport.

Kim Howells: None directly, though I am aware of representations made to the Civil Aviation Authority and Nottingham East Midlands Airport (NEMA) by various local authorities in this connection.

Road Congestion

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what methods of tackling road congestion between Manchester and Birmingham he has considered since 10 December 2002 in addition to widening the M6 motorway between junctions 11 and 20.

David Jamieson: The document "Managing our Roads" published in July 2003 set out the Government's approach to tackling congestion and the various approaches which are being considered in addition to widening motorways. However, the Secretary of State for Transport has published a consultation paper "M6: giving motorists a choice", which invites views on a new expressway to run parallel with the M6 between Birmingham and Manchester as an alternative to widening the existing M6.

Road Congestion

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the cost of road congestion in Essex in each of the last 10 years.

David Jamieson: The Department does not make estimates of the costs of road congestion in Essex. Detailed information on traffic flows on all roads in the county would be needed for such an estimate. The cost of its collection to the highway authorities in the county would exceed the value of the information to decision-makers.

Road Contractors

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles used each of the roads built using the design, build, finance and operate contracting method, in each month of operation; who the contractor was in each case; how much was paid under each contract; and if he will make a statement.

David Jamieson: The table shows the traffic figure (in vehicle kilometres) for each financial year for each of my Department's Design Build Finance and Operate projects since these were opened to traffic. Providing figures for each month would be disproportionately expensive.
	
		
			 Project Company Length of Road (km) 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 M1-A1 Yorkshire Link Ltd. 30 — 640 676 716 743 769 
			 A69 Road Link (A69) Ltd. 84 489 494 488 505 526 537 
			 A19 Autolink Concessionaires (A19) Ltd. 118 — 1565 1611 1637 1698 1753 
			 A50 Connect (A50) Ltd. 57 — 675 731 793 856 864 
			 M40 UK Highways M40 Ltd. 122 — 3844 3859 3932 3944 3944 
			 A1(M) Road Management Services (Peterborough) Ltd. 21 — 405 416 429 439 449 
			 A417/ A419 Road Management Services (Gloucester) Ltd. 52 544 574 582 604 617 641 
			 A30/ A35 Connect (A30/A35) Ltd. 102 — — 591 634 649 695 
		
	
	Figures are given in millions of vehicle kilometres.
	The following table shows the total payments made under my Department's Design Build Finance and Operate Contracts.
	
		
			 Financial year £ million 
		
		
			 1998–99 105 
			 1999–2000 119 
			 2000–01 142 
			 2001–02 130 
			 2002–03 128

CABINET OFFICE

Public Services

Sally Keeble: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to co-ordinate the improvement of public service delivery across Government.

Douglas Alexander: The Delivery and Reform Team, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, brings together those Heads of Units from the Cabinet Office, HM Treasury and No. 10 that are concerned with the delivery of better public services and civil service reform. The Delivery and Reform Team ensures co-ordination from the centre of the overall strategy and key strands of the Government's agenda.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Analogue Radio

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport 
	(1)  what plans she has made for switching off analogue radio signals; what the likely timescale is; what criteria will be applied; what target she has set for the proportion of households with access to digital technology before the analogue signal is switched off; and if she will make a statement;
	(2)  what representations she has received regarding the switching off of analogue radio signals; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: Section 67 of the Broadcasting Act 1996 requires the Secretary of State to keep under review the development of digital radio for the purposes of considering how long it would be appropriate for sound broadcasting services to be provided in analogue form.
	In particular, the Act requires her, on or before the fourth anniversary on which the first national digital multiplex is granted, to ask Ofcom and the BBC to report on the current position and future prospects for the provision of radio multiplex services; the availability of digital sound programme services and existing analogue services in digital form; and the ownership or possession of equipment capable of receiving digital sound services. These reports are to be submitted to the Secretary of State by 31 October. A number of other industry bodies have also been asked to submit any comments they wish to make. All contributions will be considered alongside the BBC and Ofcom reports, and the Government will publish their response.

Green Minister

John Horam: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport if she will make a statement on the activities of the Green Minister in the Department in financial year 2003–04.

Estelle Morris: Since my appointment as Green Minister for DCMS in July 2003, the Department has published its comprehensive Sustainable Development Strategy and a copy is in the Library of the House. I have encouraged collaboration at ministerial and official level with the Department for Education and Skills in connection with education for sustainable development. I have also had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of State for the Environment.

Publicly Owned Collections

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport pursuant to her answer of 28 June 2004, what initiatives the Government have introduced to improve public access to items in publicly owned collections of museums, galleries and other civic buildings that are permanently in storage; and if she will make a statement.

Estelle Morris: DCMS encourages each of its sponsored museums and galleries to improve both intellectual and physical access to those collection items not on open display. Examples include the Natural History Museum Darwin Phase 1 Project which contains the Museum's remarkable collection of 22 million zoological items collected over the last 200 years and the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester's Collection Centre which opened up 70 per cent. of the Museum's collection to the public when it opened in 2001. The National Museum of Science and Industry will be opening a new branch of the National Railway Museum (Locomotion) at Shildon in September of this year. It will enable visitors to view up to 60 vehicles that they might not have been able to see previously. In each case the Department has contributed funding to these developments. We also encourage the development of virtual access. A recent example of this is 'Ingenious', the new website of the National Museum of Science and Industry which allows access to 30,000 images from its collections, which might not otherwise be seen.

Wembley Stadium

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received on progress on the new Wembley Stadium development; and what the latest estimated date is for completion.

Richard Caborn: In the period since 1 April 2004 we have received no representations asking about progress towards completion of the Wembley Stadium development.
	A key milestone for Wembley National Stadium Ltd. was the successful raising of the Stadium arch in June 2004. The Stadium remains on target for completion in January 2006 and to be built within budget.
	We continue to work with all those involved in the development to ensure that public contributions are protected and used in the most efficient and effective ways possible.

Wembley Stadium

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent representations she has received on the costs of the new Wembley Stadium development.

Richard Caborn: Since l April 2004 we have received letters from the right hon. Sir George Young and from Mr. Stuart Sutherland of Dornoch, Scotland, about the cost of the Wembley Stadium development.
	The stadium remains on target for completion in January 2006 and to be built within budget.
	We continue to work with all those involved in the Wembley National Stadium development to ensure that public contributions are protected and used in the most efficient and effective ways possible.

MINISTER FOR WOMEN

Access to Universities

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Minister for Women what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education and Skills regarding (a) the opportunities available for older women to attend universities and (b) how to increase opportunities for women to attend universities.

Patricia Hewitt: holding answer 15 July 2004
	We have regular bilaterals on the cross-Government skills agenda. These bilaterals cover a host of skills related items including, where relevant, issues relating to gender and age in industry and academia. Women returners will be helped by reforms in the Government's Skills Strategy, including the new learner entitlement for those without qualifications, better learner support, and better Information Advice and Guidance. Steps have already been taken to improve services for adults such as the University for Industry (Ufi)/learndirect national advice service. DTI is also taking forward a strategy to improve women's representation in science, engineering and technology, including a resource centre with a specific women returners project.
	The Government are keen to ensure that everybody can access learning and qualifications and this is why the Access to Learning funds prioritise groups of students, like mature students who may have existing financial commitments, when allocating the funding. Other forms of financial support available are Career Development Loans, Parents Learning Allowance and the Adult Dependents Grant, which support students who have a financially dependent adult family member.

EDUCATION AND SKILLS

Apprenticeships

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what policies are followed by his Department to encourage young people to enter apprenticeship schemes within the construction industry.

Ivan Lewis: Changes to the Apprenticeship programme recently announced will benefit all sectors including construction. We want to put in place a coherent ladder of high quality vocational opportunities responsive to the needs of young people, older workers and business. We intend to build a family of apprenticeship programmes to suit a variety of needs from aged 14 upwards. These will include: Young Apprenticeships for 14 to 16-year-olds, a pre-apprenticeship route within the existing Entry to Employment programme, Apprenticeships at NVQ Level 2, Advanced Apprenticeships at NVQ Level 3 and a strengthened progression route into higher education, including vocational Foundation Degrees.
	In addition we have set up a new network of employer-led Sector Skills Councils to work with government to meet the skill needs of their sectors. Construction Skills—the SSC for construction—was licensed in September 2003. A key role for SSCs is to encourage take up of apprenticeship places by young people and others.
	The number of new entrants to the sector rose by 4 per cent. between 2001/02 and 2002/03 and the construction sector is the second most popular Apprenticeship framework with over 23,000 young people in training. Construction was also the most popular sector for both young people and employers responding to the recent Apprenticeship marketing campaign.

Family Support

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills pursuant to the answer of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of 15 March 2004, Official Report, column 12, on child poverty, if he will list for each year since 1997 for which data is available the resources that the Government has put into counselling and encouraging people to resolve their relationship difficulties in the interests of their children.

Margaret Hodge: There are a number of ways in which the Government encourage people to resolve relationship difficulties in the interests of the child. The Marriage and Relationship Support (MARS) grant funds activities aimed at helping people establish, maintain and develop successful relationships with their partners. This includes encouraging people to resolve relationship difficulties in the interests of their children and meeting the needs of socially and commonly excluded groups.
	The MARS programme (since 1997) provided grants as follows: 1997–98: £3.4 million; 1998–99: £3.0 million; 1999–2000: £3.2 million. Following Sir Graham Hart's recommendations in his report to the Lord Chancellor on Marriage Support Funding (published in November 1999), the allocation was increased as follows: 2000–01: £4 million; 2001–02: £4.5 million; 2002–03 and 2003–04: £5 million.
	Additionally, Sure Start local programmes and Children's Centres provide a range of family support and counselling services and opportunities for couples to discuss relationship issues. Similarly, a Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) officer might be involved at court directions hearings in providing assistance to children and their families to help them reach agreement on arrangements for their children, primarily in respect of contact and residence.

Children's Centres

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the running costs of each children's centre have been since each was established, broken down by region.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 19 July 2004
	The Sure Start Unit does not hold details on the running costs for individual children's centres—this is a matter for local authorities.

Connexions

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions he has had with HM Customs and Excise concerning the ability of local authorities acting as Connexions partnership lead bodies to reclaim VAT charged on services subcontracted to private providers; and if he will make a statement.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 16 July 2004
	Guidance on the ability of local authorities acting as Connexions Partnership lead bodies to reclaim VAT on services subcontracted to private providers was given at a workshop for Connexions Partnerships provided jointly with HM Customs and Excise on 20 April. Written guidance was issued to Partnerships on 12 May. We continue to work with HM Customs and Excise to consider, and advise on, individual Partnership proposals.

Connexions

Phil Willis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what programmes are being implemented by the Connexions Service to engage young people during the summer holiday period.

Margaret Hodge: The majority of Connexions Partnerships (40 out of 47) are the Lead Delivery Agents for the Positive Activities for Young People (PAYP) programme. This provides diversionary and developmental activities for 8 to 19 year olds in school holiday periods. In addition 17 partnerships are involved with the delivery of the Big Lottery Fund's Uproject. This offers a similar range of activities and is aimed at 16 year olds who have no firm plans for their future. The Connexions Service is also responsible for signposting young people to a range of other activities provided by partner organisations.
	The programmes comprise quality arts, sports and cultural activities which include an element of learning and self development.

Nursery Education (St. Helens)

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many nursery places there were in St. Helens in each year from 1997 to 2004.

Margaret Hodge: The information is not available in the form requested.
	Figures on the number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four-year-olds in St. Helens local education authority area are shown in the table.
	
		Number of free nursery education places1,2 taken up by three and four-year-old children in St. Helens local education authority area 1997–2003
		
			 Position in January each year Number 
		
		
			 1997 3,300 
			 1998 3,200 
			 1999 3,200 
			 2000 3,600 
			 2001 3,700 
			 2002 3,900 
			 2003 3,900 
		
	
	(1) Part-time equivalent number of free nursery education places taken up by three and four-year-old children.
	(2) A free nursery education place comprises five two and a half hour sessions of early years education per week, for 33 weeks of the year, usually three terms of 11 weeks.
	The latest figures on provision for three and four year olds in England were published in a Statistical Bulletin Provision for children under five years of age in England–January 2003' which is available on the Department's website www.dfes.gov.uk/rsgateway/.

Nursery Education (St. Helens)

Dave Watts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many St. Helens families have been involved in Sure Start schemes.

Margaret Hodge: Around 2,100 families were seen by the five Sure Start local programmes in the St. Helens local authority area in 2003–04. We expect around 600 families to use the nine neighbourhood nurseries in the area. They offer 370 child care places and we are expecting some 900 children to use these.

Finance and Analytical Services Directorate

Tim Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding was made available to, and how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by, the Finance and Analytical Services Directorate in 2004–05.

Charles Clarke: As at 1 April 2004, 472 staff worked in the Finance and Analytical Services Directorate. The administrative costs allocated to the Directorate for 2004–05 were £19.268 million.

Finance and Analytical Services Directorate

Tim Collins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what funding was made available to, and how many full-time equivalent staff were employed by, the (a) Analytical Services Directorate, (b) Secondary Education Group and (c) Standards and Effectiveness Unit in 2004–05, broken down by their constituent parts.

Charles Clarke: As at 1 April 2004, 293 staff worked in Analytical Services Directorate (ASD), 179 staff worked in the Secondary Education Group (SEG), and 143 staff worked in the Standards and Effectiveness Unit (SEU). However, as part of the Department's intention to create a stronger strategic capacity, ASD has recently restructured so that around 50 per cent. of analysts are based in the Department's Schools, Children Young People and Families, Lifelong Learning and Higher Education Directorates.
	The administrative costs allocated for 2004–05 were:
	(a) ASD, £11.444 million (of which £5.984 million has been transferred to other Directorates);
	(b) SEG, £7.38 million and
	(c) SEU, £3.62 million.

Learning and Skills Council (London East)

John Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills whether all people in the London East Learning and Skills Council region who wish to study for a basic skills qualification in a further education college in the academic year 2004–05 are guaranteed a place; and if he will make a statement.

Ivan Lewis: These are matters for the Learning and Skills Council. Mark Haysom, the Council's Chief Executive, will write to my hon. Friend with this information and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Library.

Literacy and Numeracy

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what recent discussions he has had with business representatives on levels of literacy and numeracy skills of school-leavers.

Ivan Lewis: I have many discussions with a range of business leaders about skills needs at all levels, including regular meetings with the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) and the Sector Skills Councils. I visit bursaries of all subjects on a regular basis.
	At the Skills Strategy One Year on Conference on the 7 July, I welcomed the shared statement by the CBI, TUC (Trades Union Congress) and Small Business Council which emphasised the importance of ensuring employers, unions, employees, Government and training providers support the development of skills at basic level and Level 2 to improve employability.

Pupil Referral Units

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what estimate he has made of the rate of unauthorised absence from pupil referral units.

Ivan Lewis: The Department does not collect absence data from pupil referral units.

Youth Services

Charles Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when he will publish the Green Paper on the reform of services for young people; which specific services he is seeking to reform; and what recommendations for reform will be included.

Margaret Hodge: holding answer 19 July 2004
	We plan to work across Government to develop and publish a Green Paper for young people in autumn 2004. The types of service and issues it will address are set out in the Department for Education and Skills: Five Year Strategy for Children and Learners. It is too early to say what recommendations for reform will be included.

Students (Wandsworth)

Tom Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of full-time students resident in the London borough of Wandsworth stayed in education after the age of (a) 16 and (b) 18 years in each of the last three years.

Ivan Lewis: For Inner London, participation in education and training is only shown as a total because participation estimates for individual Inner London LEAs cannot be estimated reliably. This is due to considerable numbers of pupils who attend independent schools in an LEA other than the one in which they reside and residence information for independent school pupils is not available. The percentage of 16-year-olds participating in full-time education in Inner London at end 2001 (the latest available year) was 73 per cent.
	There are also figures published for local Learning and Skills Council (LSC) areas, which cover Inner London. These will be affected by the cross-boundary movement, though to a lesser extent due to their larger size. The London Central LSC area includes Wandsworth LEA. The percentage of 16-year-olds participating in full-time education in London Central LSC area at end 2001 (the latest available year) was 74 per cent.
	These figures are taken from the Statistical Bulletin 01/2004 and have been produced using post-Census population estimates. Historic population estimates are not currently available on a comparable basis; and therefore, comparable participation rates for earlier years prior to 2001 cannot be produced.
	The percentages of 18-year-olds participating in full-time undergraduate courses in Wandsworth LEA for the last three years are given in Table 1. The higher education (HE) figures show the proportion of students who gain places in HE courses at age 18, and so will not include those who enter at 19 or over.
	
		Table 1: Proportion of English domiciled students aged 18 accepted through UCAS to full-time undergraduate courses in the UK, by LEA of domicile
		
			 As at autumn Percentage 
		
		
			 2001 23.9 
			 2002 23.6 
			 2003 23.4

Sure Start

Ivan Henderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what plans he has to support disadvantaged children and families who do not live in wards covered by the Sure Start programme.

Margaret Hodge: Children's centres are the focus of the Government's plans to expand high quality integrated service provision to young children and families. By 2008 we will have developed up to 2,500 children's centres. In areas not currently covered by Sure Start programmes, centres will develop from a wide range of settings in the maintained, private and voluntary sectors. In the long term the Government aim to develop a children's centre in every community.

Vending Machines

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the distribution cost of installing vending machines in schools selling only water, fresh milk, juice and fruit; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  whether his Department has conducted research into installing healthy vending machines in schools; and if he will study the example of the Green Machine when conducting work in this area;
	(3)  what correspondence his Department has had from (a) the National Association of Head Teachers and (b) the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers on vending machines in schools; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Twigg: The provision of vending machines in schools is determined by individual school governing bodies.
	The Department for Education and Skills (DfES) has not carried out any assessment of the distribution cost of installing vending machines which offer healthy food and drink, nor conducted research into installing healthy vending machines in schools. However, DfES and Department of Health are jointly funding the 'Food in Schools' (FiS) initiative, which includes an investigation of how healthy food and drink can be offered in vending machines in schools.
	In addition, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) recently investigated the economic viability of healthier drinks vending provision in schools, and their findings are published in "A Feasibility Study into Healthier Drinks Vending in Schools" which can be found on the FSA's website: www.foodstandards.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2004/apr/vending
	Information about the Green Machine has been forwarded to officials in DoH and FSA who lead on vending machine projects.
	We have not received correspondence about vending machines from the National Association of Head Teachers or the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Students (Means-tested Benefits)

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much money was paid to students on means-tested benefits in the last year for which figures are available.

Chris Pond: The information is not available.

Appointees

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants have an appointee to act on the claimant's behalf in respect of benefit claims and payments; and in how many cases the appointee is (a) a family member or friend, (b) a member of staff of a public body, (c) an independent care home owner or manager and (d) another person acting in their professional capacity.

Maria Eagle: The information is not available in the format requested as details on appointees are not collected centrally.
	At the end of February 2004 there were 174,700 pensions credit claims where there was an appointee and 118,200 in respect of income support claims.

Appointees

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many representations have been received about appointeeship in connection with the proposed mental capacity legislation; and from whom.

Maria Eagle: The Department received correspondence from the Making Decisions Alliance after the pre-legislative scrutiny of the Draft Mental Incapacity Bill.
	In addition, a number of organisations, including the Making Decisions Alliance, referred to the Department's appointee procedures when giving evidence to the Joint Committee on the Draft Mental Incapacity Bill.

Appointees

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what changes are planned on the information for (a) staff undertaking assessments of capacity and (b) appointees following the implementation of the mental capacity legislation;
	(2)  whether there will be a requirement for staff of his Department undertaking assessments of claimant's capacity to manage his or her affairs to have regard to the Code of Practice under the mental capacity legislation.

Maria Eagle: We are currently looking at the potential impact of this Bill on our appointee arrangements. We will finalise the review in the event that the Bill receives Royal Assent and the Code of Practice is completed.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the weekly multiplier is that is used to estimate the average amount of housing and council tax benefit fraud run-on in cases where a fraudulent claim has been detected.

Chris Pond: For local authorities, the Weekly Benefit Saving (WBS) scheme was replaced by the Security Against Fraud and Error (SAFE) scheme on 1 April 2002. Unlike WBS, where a 32 week multiplier was used when calculating savings from anti fraud activity, no such multiplier is used for SAFE.
	Under SAFE, local authorities earn a fixed monetary reward based on the amount of reduction in benefit for each overpayment which they detect that is a result of fraud or claimant error. In addition, local authorities are partly compensated for the costs incurred in bringing forward sanctions and prosecutions.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his written answer of 17 May 2004, Official Report, column 731W, on benefit fraud, what the average (a) weekly incorrect benefit reward and (b) security against fraud and error subsidy was as a proportion of expenditure.

Chris Pond: Local authorities earn Weekly Incorrect Benefit (WIB) rewards for overpayments they recover which have arisen as a result of fraud and claimant error. The average total WIB reward across all local authorities as a proportion of expenditure was 0.2 per cent. in 2002–03. The average total Security Against Fraud and Error subsidy across all local authorities as a proportion of expenditure was 0.3 per cent. in 2002–03.

Benefit Fraud

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many staff in his Department have been (a) investigated, (b) suspended, (c) dismissed, (d) prosecuted and (e) convicted for involvement in benefit fraud in each of the last six months; and what amounts were involved in each case.

Chris Pond: Information is not available in the exact format requested. Such information as is available is shown in the table and accompanying text.
	32 cases of staff suspected of involvement in benefit fraud have been investigated during the period 1 January 2004 to 30 June 2004. These cases include both fraudulent personal claims to benefit and assisting third parties to commit benefit fraud.
	In the same period, 10 members of staff were given either a disciplinary penalty and/or were prosecuted and convicted of an offence. Some of these will have resulted from investigations in earlier periods. Details, including the amount of benefit involved in each case, are shown in the following table. Where an amount is not shown in the table, either it has not been possible to determine a value or the overpayment is still being calculated.
	
		
			 Number Outcome Value 
		
		
			 1 Officer prosecuted and sentenced to a 12 month conditional discharge and £75 costs. The officer continues in post pending a decision about his employment status £979 
			 2 Officer prosecuted for offences committed in 2000 and sentenced to 11 months imprisonment. £38,938 
			 3 Officer prosecuted and sentenced to two months imprisonment. The officer was initially suspended on full pay, which changed to suspension without pay from the date formal charges were made. They have since been dismissed. £4,180 plus an additional potential overpayment of £2,013 
			 4 Officer prosecuted and sentenced to an 18 month Community Rehabilitation Order and ordered to pay £1,510, the amount to be repaid in full by 18 December 2004. The officer was initially suspended from duty and subsequently resigned. £410 
			 5 Officer found guilty of benefit fraud and will be sentenced on 16 July 2004. The officer was suspended from duty and subsequently dismissed. £1,327 plus an additional potential overpayment of £2,600 
			 6 Officer sentenced to a 200 hour community service order and has been dismissed £3,112 
			 7 Officer prosecuted and fined £120 costs and ordered to pay £628. The overpayment has been repaid in full £2,599 
			 8 Officer Dismissed £5,280 
			 9 Officer Dismissed. Prosecution pending. £660 
			 10 Officer Dismissed — 
		
	
	In addition to the cases listed in the table four officers resigned prior to a penalty being imposed.
	Details of staff suspensions are not routinely captured. Where appropriate, staff are suspended from duty pending the outcome of any action.

Benefits (Electronic Claims Facility)

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will list the benefits that can be claimed using an electronic claims facility.

Chris Pond: At present, only Carers Allowance can be claimed using an electronic claims facility; however, we are working to extend this provision to other benefits as soon as it is practical to do so. In addition, electronic claim forms are available on the internet for many of our benefits; these can be completed before being printed off, signed and forwarded to the appropriate office.

Child Support Agency

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many prosecutions resulting from the criminal offence of non-co-operation with the Child Support Agency there have been since January 2001.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Webb dated 20 July 2004
	In reply to your recent parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many prosecutions resulting from the criminal offence of non-co-operations with the Child Support Agency there have been since January 2001. As at 30 June 2004, 319 people have been prosecuted under the Child Support Pensions and Social Security Act 2000 for failing to provide information to the Child Support Agency. Of these, 317 have been found guilty.

Child Support Agency

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much the Child Support Agency has been owed in outstanding maintenance payments in each of the last seven years.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Webb, dated 20 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much the CSA has been owed in outstanding maintenance payments in each of the last 7 years.
	The annual accounts of the Agency indicate that the recoverable balance outstanding on full maintenance assessments, as at 31 March each year, is as follows:
	
		
			  £million 
		
		
			 31 March 1998 412 
			 31 March 1999 512 
			 31 March 2000 521 
			 31 March 2001 528 
			 31 March 2002 509 
			 31 March 2003 664 
		
	
	The accounts to 31 March 2004 will be published shortly.

Child Support Agency

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many non-resident parents have had their driving licences removed by the courts since April 2001 as a result of the provisions introduced under the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000.

Chris Pond: The administration of the Child Support Agency is a matter for the Chief Executive, Mr. Doug Smith. He will write to the hon. Member with the information requested.
	Letter from Doug Smith to Mr. Webb, dated 20 July 2004
	In reply to your recent Parliamentary question about the Child Support Agency the Secretary of State promised a substantive reply from the Chief Executive.
	You asked the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many non-resident parents have had their driving licences removed by the courts since April 2001 as a result of the provisions introduced under the Child Support, Pensions and Social Security Act 2000.
	Disqualification from driving (and committal to prison) is only considered after all other enforcement options have been attempted or discounted. Since the power to withdraw driving licences was brought into effect on 2 April 2001 20 licences have been suspended and 2 licences have been removed.

Departmental Staff

Stephen Dorrell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many full-time equivalent employees of his Department there were in the East Midlands in each year since 1997.

Maria Eagle: Information on staff numbers by Government Office Region was not collected prior to September 2001. Information at that date and each year thereafter is in the table.
	
		DWP staff numbers in East Midlands Government Office Region
		
			  Staff numbers 
		
		
			 30 September 2001 5,730 
			 30 September 2002 6,126 
			 30 September 2003 6,245 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Numbers are Whole Time Equivalent (rounded to the nearest whole number).
	2. Numbers are consistent with Cabinet Office definitions other than the inclusion of staff on paid maternity leave.
	3. Numbers are point in time at the dates shown.

Departmental Staff

Lynne Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what co-ordination is taking place across agencies and sections of his Department to minimise the loss of experienced staff in offices subject to plans for closure.

Maria Eagle: Following the Budget and Spending Review announcements detailed business and staffing plans are currently being developed across the Department in order to manage the reduction of 30,000 posts by March 2008.
	This planning activity is being undertaken through co-ordinated activity across all agencies and sections of the Department. In taking the programme of change forward staff deployment will be managed to ensure the Department retains and utilises the skills and experience of staff in each of its businesses.

Havering (Employment)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to help those seeking employment in Havering.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Rosindell dated 20 July 2004
	The Secretary of State has asked me to reply direct to your question about the help available to those seeking employment in Havering. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	There are two Jobcentre Plus offices delivering services to the people of Havering.
	1. Romford Jobcentre Plus, 30 Main Road, Romford. Opened on 7 June 2004.
	2. Hornchurch Jobcentre Plus, North Street, Hornchurch. Opened on 24 March 2004.
	Both offices provide a range of services to customers seeking employment, including:
	access to a personal adviser to assist finding suitable employment;
	access to touch screen Jobpoints or the internet;
	entry to the New Deal programme;
	work trials, for customers to show employers what they can do or to try out a job.
	Depending on personal circumstances there is other help available to help customers find employment. For example, lone parents may be able to get help with childcare costs. People with disabilities can get help from specialist Disability Employment Advisers or join New Deal for Disabled People. A range of training programmes is also available to provide extra support and help in getting, and keeping, a job. Further details on the services available are contained in leaflet PFL 2, available in Jobcentre Plus offices, or by visiting www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk.
	Although these services are common to Jobcentre Plus offices, there are a range of local initiatives, specific to Havering, to help local people into work.
	The Oldchurch Recruitment Centre, for example, opened in May 2004 and initially targeted the construction workers for the first phase of the development of the new Oldchurch Hospital. This positive partnership working with local employers has resulted in over 30 customers gaining employment at the site. To expand this scheme we are developing working agreements with the local Health trusts and have begun to match Jobcentre Plus customers with vacancies as they arise in local Hospitals.
	Another initiative is with the new Asda supermarket, due to open in Romford in the autumn of 2005. Work is to begin on clearing the site in the autumn 2004 and we are in discussion to use our services to recruit people for the demolition and construction phases of the new store. Furthermore, we aim to undertake the entire recruitment of staff for this new supermarket.
	We have also planned a number of events for the summer to specifically address the employment needs of customers in Havering. In partnership with the London Borough of Havering, Jobcentre Plus will be running a stand at the Havering Town Show on 29 and 30 August. This will promote the services of Jobcentre Plus and assist customers in finding employment. Furthermore there will be a seasonal vacancy promotion in the Romford area on 21 and 22 September 2004 designed to match customers to upcoming Christmas vacancies.
	The District Manager for North East London, has written to all local MPs offering to meet on a regular basis to discuss developments in the District.
	I hope this is helpful.

Jobseeker's Allowance (Havering)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people were claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in Havering in each year since 2000.

Chris Pond: The information is in the table.
	
		People claiming Job Seekers Allowance in Havering local authority area
		
			  Number of people claiming 
		
		
			 May 2000 2,934 
			 May 2001 2,241 
			 May 2002 2,346 
			 May 2003 2,593 
			 May 2004 2,444 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Information related to all Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants, and will include both those receiving contribution-based JSA, income-based JSA, and claimants not receiving JSA but signing for national insurance credits only.
	2. Information is based on a 100 per cent. count of claimants of unemployment-related benefits.
	Source:
	Count of unemployment-related benefits, Jobcentre Plus computer systems.

Employment Tribunals

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many cases against his Department, the agencies for which it is responsible and its predecessor organisations have been brought to employment tribunals in each year since 1997 in relation to (a) equal pay, (b) sex discrimination, (c) race discrimination, (d) disability discrimination and (e) unfair dismissal; how many cost awards were made against (i) respondents and (ii) applicants; and how much has been spent (A) settling and (B) contesting claims.

Maria Eagle: The available information is in the tables.
	
		Table A—legal services provided to the former Employment Service and Jobcentre Plus by private sector law firm
		
			  1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 
		
		
			 Number of cases
			 Equal pay 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 
			 Sex discrimination 6 12 9 8 6 4 4 1 
			 Race discrimination 5 2 8 10 5 2 3 0 
			 Disability discrimination 9 14 14 27 20 22 18 7 
			 Unfair dismissal 0 0 6 10 7 13 11 8 
			  
			 Number of cost awards
			 Against respondent — — — — 2 4 11 14 
			 Against applicant — — — — — — — — 
			  
			 Costs 
			 Settling — — — — 121,500.00 43,580.00 94,291.00 96,277.95 
			 Contesting 114,728.26 219,312.39 190,883.69 284,339.38 460,693.75 290,394.51 334,085.94 131,064.09 
		
	
	
		Table B—legal services provided to DWP by Government Solicitors
		
			  2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 
		
		
			 Number of cases 
			 Disability discrimination — — — 42 
			 Race discrimination — — — 26 
			 Sex discrimination — — — 32 
			 Unfair dismissal — — — 63 
			 Other — — — 33 
			 Total number of cases 109 81 104 196 
			 Counsel fees 162,315 104,493 267,303 247,603 
		
	
	Two sets of figures are provided above due to the merger in 2002 of the Employment Service with the Benefits Agency to form Jobcentre Plus, a business unit of the Department for Work and Pensions. Prior to the merger, legal services on employment law matters were provided to the Employment Service by a private firm of solicitors—who remain the legal service provider for Jobcentre Plus. These figures are provided in Table A.
	Table B represents the employment law statistics for cases conducted by departmental solicitors, who dealt with all employment litigation cases on behalf of the former BA, CSA, Pensions Service and DCS and other DWP agencies. Where the table is incomplete, information is not readily available and it would involve disproportionate cost to the Department to collate these figures. In particular, information on the costs of settling cases was not collected by the Department, nor was information collated, prior to 2003, on the specific types of case against the Department.

Hospital Downrating Rules

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the value in cash terms was of reducing each benefit affected by the hospital downrating rules in each of the last seven years.

Chris Pond: The information requested is not available.

Jobcentre Plus

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the running costs, including staffing costs, of Jobcentre Plus centres were in each year since 1997; and how many people were employed in centres in each year.

Jane Kennedy: The administration of Jobcentre Plus is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Jobcentre Plus, David Anderson. He will write to the hon. Member.
	Letter from David Anderson to Mr. Simmonds, dated 20 July 2004
	The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has asked me to reply direct to your question concerning the running costs and staff costs of Jobcentre Plus centres each year since 1997, and how many people were employed in centres in each year. This is something which falls within the responsibilities delegated to me as Chief Executive of Jobcentre Plus.
	The information you have asked for can be found in the table below.
	
		
			 Year ended 31 March (for financial figures) Total staff at 30 April (WTE) Staff costs (£000) Other administration costs (£000) Total gross administration costs (£000) 
		
		
			 1997 31,550 — — — 
			 1998 30,796 — — — 
			 1999 32,675 — — — 
			 2000 32,620 — — — 
			 2001 34,110 — — — 
			 2002 (3)85,020 — — — 
			 2003 80,170 1,712,111 1,254,131 2,996,242 
			 2004 79,234 1,669,766 1,384,015 3,023,303 
		
	
	(3) Staff numbers increase from 2001 to 2002 due to the merger of the Benefits Agency and the Employment Service
	Source:
	Cabinet Office Statistics website for Headcount.
	Latest draft of the 31 March 2004 accounts for financial figures.
	It may be helpful if I explain that Jobcentre Plus came into existence in April 2002, bringing together staff from the Employment Service and part of the Benefits Agency. It deals with both claims to, and payments of, all working age benefits as well as job-finding activities. Data on staff is collected by grade rather than job role and it is not possible to identify accurately the number of staff working in front facing customer service centres from this information. The financial figures shown are only available since the introduction of Jobcentre Plus.
	As these figures show, there has been a reduction in staff numbers from 2003 to 2004 and, as would be expected, the staff costs for 2004 have also decreased. However, the gross administration costs for the agency have increased. This is due to higher costs falling under the heading "Other Administration Costs". There are a number of different categories of expenditure that come under this section of the accounts, although the majority are not directly related to the number of staff employed. The main variances relate to the following:
	
		
			  £ million 
		
		
			 Areas of expenditure impacted by Jobcentre Plus Implementation Project +71 
			 Increased accommodation costs +22 
			 Increased use of corporate IT services +22 
			 Reduced income from other agencies as less project/ non-project work carried out on their behalf +59 
			 Expenditure relating to a contract for provision of IT services has been absorbed by DWP -40 
			 Total +134 
		
	
	I hope this is helpful.

Attendance Allowance

John Thurso: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to his answer of 16 June 2004, Official Report, column 1018W, on attendance allowance, how many attendance allowance claims in Scotland have been subject to appeal since February 2002, broken down by (a) disability benefit centre and (b) month.

Maria Eagle: The information required is set out in the following tables. Total numbers of attendance allowance cases in payment in Scotland, at February 2004 and February 2004 are included in a subsequent table.
	
		Attendance allowance appeals in Scotland, for Glasgow Disability Benefit Centre and the period February 2002 to May 2004 by month
		
			 Month Lodged 1 Received 2 Cleared at hearing Cleared in favour Cleared against Cleared upheld Cleared others Adjourned Postponed 
		
		
			 2002  
			 February 130 135 105 50 — 45 5 35 20 
			 March 100 100 130 60 — 65 5 35 20 
			 April 120 85 125 75 — 50 — 20 15 
			 May 120 90 120 70 — 45 5 30 25 
			 June 110 95 80 45 — 35 5 25 15 
			 July 115 100 85 45 — 35 — 20 20 
			 August 110 110 90 55 — 30 5 25 25 
			 September 85 125 85 50 — 30 5 20 30 
			 October 110 140 75 45 — 30 — 30 20 
			 November 130 85 85 50 — 35 — 25 15 
			 December 80 115 70 40 — 30 — 20 10 
			   
			 2003  
			 January 120 95 140 75 — 60 5 35 25 
			 February 95 95 95 50 — 45 5 20 15 
			 March 95 90 75 40 — 35 — 20 10 
			 April 80 65 90 45 — 40 5 30 10 
			 May 100 120 80 35 — 40 5 20 10 
			 June 100 100 100 40 — 55 5 30 10 
			 July 100 95 95 45 — 50 — 20 15 
			 August 115 80 70 35 — 30 — 25 10 
			 September 80 115 85 45 — 40 5 25 15 
			 October 125 120 90 50 — 35 5 25 10 
			 November 115 85 80 35 — 40 5 15 10 
			 December 80 75 55 20 — 30 5 20 5 
			   
			 2004  
			 January 85 115 80 40 — 35 5 25 5 
			 February 80 115 75 35 — 40 — 25 5 
			 March 115 125 95 50 — 45 5 25 10 
			 April 45 110 65 25 — 40 — 25 5 
			 May — 55 65 20 5 40 — 35 5 
			 Total 2,740 2,830 2,490 1,265 5 1,135 90 710 390 
		
	
	
		Attendance allowance appeals in Scotland, for Edinburgh Disability Benefit Centre and the period February 2002 to May 2004 by month
		
			 Month Lodged 1 Received 2 Cleared at hearing Cleared in favour Cleared against Cleared upheld Cleared others Adjourned Postponed 
		
		
			 2002  
			 February 40 40 50 20 — 30 — 5 5 
			 March 60 45 55 20 — 30 5 5 5 
			 April 40 55 35 15 — 20 — 5 5 
			 May 55 35 55 25 — 30 — — 10 
			 June 40 50 25 10 — 15 — 5 5 
			 July 45 55 25 15 — 10 — 5 10 
			 August 35 45 30 15 — 15 — 5 5 
			 September 40 40 30 10 — 20 5 5 — 
			 October 45 55 35 15 — 15 — 5 5 
			 November 45 30 30 15 — 10 — 5 5 
			 December 25 25 30 15 — 15 — — 5 
			   
			 2003  
			 January 30 30 30 10 — 20 — 5 5 
			 February 45 45 20 10 — 10 — 5 5 
			 March 30 35 30 15 — 15 — 5 10 
			 April 40 30 20 5 — 15 — — — 
			 May 65 25 30 10 — 20 — 5 — 
			 June 55 60 35 15 — 15 — 5 5 
			 July 50 40 20 10 — 10 — 5 — 
			 August 55 55 30 15 — 15 — — — 
			 September 50 40 40 20 — 20 — 10 5 
			 October 40 60 30 15 — 15 — 5 — 
			 November 55 55 35 10 — 25 — 15 5 
			 December 45 45 25 15 — 10 — 5 — 
			   
			 2004  
			 January 35 45 45 20 — 25 — 5 5 
			 February 35 35 30 10 — 20 — 5 — 
			 March 30 20 40 20 — 20 — 5 10 
			 April 25 15 30 15 — 15 — 10 — 
			 May — 75 20 5 — 15 — 10 5 
			 Total 1,150 1,175 905 390 — 495 20 140 120 
		
	
	'—' denotes data equal to nil or negligible.
	(4) An appeal is lodged with the first tier agency. This may bring about a reconsideration by the decision maker. When the first tier agency receives this application, this is called the lodgement date.
	(5) When an appeal is sent to the Appeals Service for them to action, this is the received date.
	Appeals data notes:
	1. All figures are subject to change as more up to date data becomes available.
	2. The whole of Scotland is covered by Glasgow and Edinburgh Disability Benefits Centres figures for the latest months may rise significantly as information feeds through to the Appeals Service.
	3. Figures are rounded to the nearest five and may not sum.
	
		Attendance allowance in payment within Scotland, February 2002 and 2004
		
			  Attendance allowance in payment 
		
		
			 February 2002 129,200 
			 February 2004 134,600 
		
	
	Attendance allowance data notes:
	1. Cases where payment of benefit has been suspended are excluded.
	2. February 2002 figure taken from a 5 per cent. sample at 28 February 2004.
	February 2004 figure taken from a 5 per cent. sample at 29 February 2004.
	3. From November 2002, the methodology for producing these figures was changed to allow statistics to be published much sooner. This has resulted in a small increase in the reported case load. This is because some cases which have actually terminated but have not yet been updated on the computer system are now included.
	4. May 2004 are unavailable, as yet unreleased.
	Source:
	IAD Information Centre, 100 per cent. sample.

Pension Protection Fund

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his proposed fund to offer financial assistance to workers who have lost their pension rights in private schemes will cover employees of foreign owned entities; and if he will make a statement.

Malcolm Wicks: The details of the financial assistance scheme, including the eligibility of employees of foreign owned entities, will be developed through consultation with stakeholders such as pension scheme trustees, trades unions and key business representatives. Until this work has been completed we will not be in a position to give any scheme members assurances that they will be covered. To do otherwise could be misleading.

Pensioners (Domiciled Abroad)

Ian Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what arrangements are in place for the payment of (a) state pension and (b) other benefits to UK senior citizens who retire to (i) another EU state, (ii) Norway, (iii) Switzerland, (iv) the USA and (v) Australia; what the current value is of a UK state pension paid to an individual who retired to each of these countries in (A) 1985, (B) 1995 and (C) 2000; and if he will estimate the cumulative difference in the total value of pensions such an individual would have received in each of the stated areas compared to an individual who retired in the UK.

Malcolm Wicks: The Information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is as follows:
	Payment of a UK State Pension is not affected by a person's country of residence during retirement. However, where a pensioner lives outside the UK, the State Pension is not uprated unless he or she is living in a country in respect of which EC legislation or a reciprocal agreement provides for uprating.
	The European social security co-ordinating regulations contain rules which set out whether UK benefits are paid in another Member State (Regulation 1408/71). From June 2002 Switzerland is also covered by these regulations. UK pensioners who live in another Member State or Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland or Switzerland may receive UK benefits there. This will depend on whether the benefits are covered by the coordinating regulations, the nationality of the person and which state they are living in.
	The table shows the cumulative value, from 1 April 1985, 1995 and 2000 respectively to the end of the 2003/04 financial year, of upratings of a full basic State Pension (excluding age additions) which a person would have received if:
	a) he remained entitled to a full basic State Pension; and
	b) he was continuously resident in a country in respect of which either legislation or a reciprocal agreement provided for the uprating of State Pension.
	
		£
		
			   Date Rate of full basic State Pension per week Cumulative value of year on basic State Pension 
		
		
			 1 April 1985 35.80 20,467.95 
			 1 April 1995 57.60 4,626.35 
			 1 April 2000 66.75 1,360.10

Polygamous Spouses

Bill Tynan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what the total value of benefits paid to polygamous spouses was in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many polygamous spouses are in receipt of benefits from his Department.

Chris Pond: The information is not recorded centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate costs.

Post Office Card Accounts

Ian Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether staff in the Department are permitted to dissuade benefit recipients from opening Post Office Card Accounts;
	(2)  how many people who are not in receipt of benefits have opened a Post Office Card Account.

Chris Pond: Staff in the Department for Work and Pensions do not in any way discourage customers from opening Post Office card accounts.
	All Department for Work and Pensions staff have been provided with information on all of the account options available to the customer. The role of our staff is to provide factual information on the features of the different account options available to the customer. The customer can then decide which type of account they choose to have their money paid into based on their individual needs and circumstances.
	Many customers are choosing the Post Office card account option, with 2.8 million having opened one so far.
	The Post Office card account is available only to those in receipt of benefits, state pensions and tax credits.
	However, it is important that customers are made aware that the Post Office card account is not the only account that can be used at post offices.

Renewable Energy

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of electricity used by buildings in (a) his Department and (b) its agencies has come from renewable sources for each year from 1997 to date.

Chris Pond: DWP was set up in June 2001. The proportion of electricity it has obtained from renewable sources has been 25 per cent. and 21.4 per cent. in 2001–02 and 2002–03 respectively.
	It is not possible to provide an accurate breakdown of consumption to Agency level, as invariably DWP buildings are occupied by a number of the Department's businesses.
	Information for 2003–04 will be reported in the next Sustainable Development in Government report in November 2004.
	The Department continues to exceed the target for sourcing 10 per cent. of its electricity from renewable sources, as set out in the "Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate". The framework can be found on the Sustainable Development in Government website.

Referrals for Medical Advice (Claimants)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many referrals for medical advice were made by staff of his Department when assessing the capacity of a claimant to manage his/her financial affairs in 2002–03.

Maria Eagle: The Department does not normally require a report by a qualified medical officer before granting an appointeeship. A visiting officer will make an independent assessment of a customer's ability to manage his or her own affairs based on Department guidelines. In cases where there is some doubt the opinion of a suitably qualified professional may be sought, for example a social worker, community psychiatric nurse or general practitioner.
	Information is not available on of the number of interviews that are undertaken.

Referrals for Medical Advice (Claimants)

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what training staff of his Department receive prior to undertaking assessments of a claimant's capacity to manage their own financial affairs;
	(2)  what guidance is given to staff of his Department on appointeeship; when this guidance was last updated; and whether it is available to the public (a) through the Department's website and (b) from local offices.

Maria Eagle: A wide range of training is available to staff undertaking assessments of a person's capacity to manage their own affairs, including training on disability awareness, and working with vulnerable groups, which contains specific training regarding dealing with people with mental health problems. In addition new visiting officers will spend time accompanying more experienced members of staff as part of their training.
	All staff have access to guidance in the Agents, Attorneys, Appointees and Receivers Guide, which is currently being updated. While there is currently no specific training about undertaking an assessment of a person's capacity to manage their own financial affairs, a new training product is currently being developed which will help staff identify who may need an appointee.
	The Department's internal guidance is not available to members of the public.

Sickness Absence

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average number of working days lost per person due to sickness absence in (a) his Department and (b) each of its business areas was in 2003–04.

Maria Eagle: The information required for 2003–04 is in the table.
	
		
			  Average working days lost 
		
		
			 DWP 12.6 
			 Jobcentre Plus 12.7 
			 The Pension Service 12.1 
			 Child Support Agency 15.6 
			 Disability and Carers 11.9 
			 The Appeals Service 11.2 
			 Corporate centre 10.2

Civil Servants (Staffing Plans)

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will provide a breakdown of the estimated civil service staff (a) reductions and (b) relocations within his Department and its business units in each of the next four years, as set out in the Spending Review.

Maria Eagle: Following the Spending Review announcement, detailed business and staffing plans continue to be developed across all parts of the Department in order to manage the reduction of 30,000 posts by March 2008, and the planned relocation of work from London and the south east. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State made a written statement to the House on 29 June outlining the first phase of this transformation. We will inform the House as further planning decisions are made.

Unemployment Statistics (Over-50s)

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of people between the age of 50 and state pension age who are not working are claiming benefit, broken down by gender; how many of these rely on benefits to make up more than half of their income, broken down by gender; how much is being spent on benefits for this group; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Pond: The estimated expenditure on incapacity related benefits, Jobseekers Allowance, other income-related benefits and disability or carer benefits for claimants aged 50 to state pension age is estimated to be £11.6 billion in 2003–04. Total expenditure on all claimants aged 50 to state pension age in 2003–04 is estimated to be £12.5 billion.
	In 2001–02, the latest year for which information is available, benefits made up over half of individual income for 82 per cent. of men and 89 per cent. of women, overall 84 per cent. of people, aged 50 to state pension age receiving any benefit other than those with just Child Benefit or Winter Fuel Payment 1 and not working.
	The available information on the number of people aged 50 to state pension age claiming benefits, and the number in this age group who are not in work is in the table.
	1 Individual incomes data 2001–02. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit are not considered as benefit income or part of total income.
	
		People aged 50 to State pension age claiming key benefits and estimated numbers not in work
		
			  Men Women All 
		
		
			 People claiming key benefits other than Disability Living Allowance November 2003(6) 1,015,600 545,500 1,561,100 
			 As above but excluding cases identified as in work or Income Support cases in residential care 1,002,100 533,800 1,535,900 
			 Estimated number of individuals in private households not in work autumn/winter 2003 1,410,000 1,231,000 2,641,000 
		
	
	(6) Figures include people claiming Incapacity Benefit, Severe Disablement Allowance, Income Support or Jobseeker's Allowance.
	Source:
	Number of people claiming benefits—5 per cent. sample of administrative data. Estimated numbers not in work—Labour Force Survey.

Income Thresholds

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the income thresholds used in paragraph 7 of the reply by the Government to the Second Report of the Work and Pensions Committee of Session 2003–04, Cm 6200 are in weekly cash amounts of income (a) before housing costs, (i) for the relative low income and (ii) for the absolute low income and (b) after housing costs (A) for the relative low income and (B) for the absolute low income.

Chris Pond: The information is in the tables.
	
		Weekly cash values for the relative low income threshold by illustrative household type at 2002–03 prices
		
			 Household type Before housing costs After housing costs 
		
		
			 Couple with no children (equivalised income  benchmark) 194 172 
			 Couple with two children aged 5 and 11 283 253 
			 Single with two children aged 5 and 11 207 175 
			 Couple with one child aged 5 235 208 
			 Single with one child aged 5 159 131 
		
	
	
		Weekly cash values for the absolute low income threshold by illustrative household type at 2002–03 prices
		
			 Household type Before housing costs After housing costs 
		
		
			 Couple with no children (equivalised income  benchmark) 166 140 
			 Couple with two children aged 5 and 11 242 206 
			 Single with two children aged 5 and 11 178 143 
			 Couple with one child aged 5 201 170 
			 Single with one child aged 5 136 107 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Estimates relate to the household's status at the time they were interviewed for the FRS.
	2. The threshold '60 per cent. of median' (equivalised weekly household income) is the most commonly used in reporting absolute and relative trends in low income.
	3. The estimates are based on sample counts, which have been adjusted for non-response using multipurpose grossing factors that control for tenure, council tax band and a number of other variables. Estimates are subject to both sampling error, and to remaining variability in non-response which is not corrected by the grossing regime.
	4. Equivalised incomes use the McClements equalisation scale.
	5. When reporting numbers of individuals in 'relative low income', we apply 60 per cent. of the median income for the year in question; therefore, this threshold changes from one year to the next.
	6. When reporting numbers of individuals in 'absolute low income', we take a single level of real equivalised income, which is set at 60 per cent. of the 1996–97 median income, which is £166 before housing costs and £140 after housing costs, at 2002–03 prices. Equivalised income adjusts household income for household size and composition. The corresponding cash values for this absolute threshold, for different family types are shown in the table.
	7. All figures are in pounds per week, in 2002–03 prices, rounded to the nearest pound, and are consistent with current National Statistics conventions.
	8. The figures relating to absolute and relative low income were derived from "Households Below Average Income—An analysis of the income distribution for 1994–95—2002–03" (HBAI). Copies are available in the Library.
	Source:
	Family Resources Survey (FRS).

New Deal

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many young people have joined the Young New Deal scheme in each year since its inception.

Jane Kennedy: The information is in the table.
	
		New Deal for Young People
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1998 212,930 
			 1999 192,290 
			 2000 174,770 
			 2001 162,700 
			 2002 164,230 
			 2003 171,900 
			 2004 45,120 
			 Total 1,123,930 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. All figures are for January to December except 2004 which is January to March.
	2. All figures are starts rather than individuals and include people who may have started New Deal more than once.
	3. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.
	4. Totals may not sum due to rounding.
	Source:
	DWP Information and Analysis Directorate

HEALTH

Agenda for Change

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the Answer of 6 July 2004, Official Report, column 606W, on Agenda for Change, which of the early implementer-sites are testing the new system for (a) community nurses and (b) allied health professionals; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: Community nurses are employed in eight of the 12 early implementer sites. Allied health professions are employed in 10 sites.
	A list of the sites who are currently testing the system for these staff groups is shown in the table.
	
		
			 Community nurses Allied health professions 
		
		
			 Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust 
			 Central Cheshire Primary Care Trust Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership 
			 City Hospitals Sunderland Central Cheshire Primary Care Trust 
			 Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital National Health Service Trust City Hospitals Sunderland 
			 Herefordshire NHS Primary Care Trust Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital NHS Trust 
			 James Paget Healthcare NHS Trust Herefordshire NHS Primary Care Trust 
			 South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust James Paget Healthcare NHS Trust 
			 West Kent and Social Care Trust Papworth Hospital NHS Trust 
			  South West London and St. George's Mental Health NHS Trust 
			  West Kent and Social Care Trust

Care Packages

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have received care packages to enable them to stay in their homes in Greater London in each of the last five years.

Stephen Ladyman: The table shows the estimated number of clients who received a community based service following a community care assessment in Greater London for 2000–01 to 2002–03. Data for previous years are not available.
	
		Estimated number of clients receiving a community based service(7) in Greater London(8) -- Rounded data
		
			  Number of clients(9) 
		
		
			 2000–01 179,000 
			 2001–02 186,000 
			 2002–03 182,000 
		
	
	(7) Community based services includes day care, meals, respite care, direct payments, professional support, transport and equipment as well as home care.
	(8) Includes councils with social services responsibilities in inner and outer London.
	(9) Care should be taken when comparing data across the years as recording practices, level of completion and quality may have changed.

Chiropody Services (Access)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures he is taking to improve access to chiropody services.

John Hutton: The Government have taken action to increase numbers of chiropodists working in the national health service and entering training. Between 1997 and 2003, the number of qualified chiropodists employed in the NHS has increased by 16 per cent. and between 1999–2000 and 2003–04, the number of students entering training has increased by 33 per cent. Further increases in the NHS chiropody workforce are expected as a result of the "Delivering the NHS Plan" forecast for 30,000 more therapists and scientists by 2008 than there were in 2001.

Consultancy Services

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much has been spent by (a) his Department and (b) the NHS on consultancy services in each year since 1996.

John Hutton: Expenditure by the Department and the national health service on external consultancy services in each year from 1996–97 to 2003–04, is shown in the table. However, it is not possible to separate the figures for consultancy and contract staffing for NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs).
	
		£ million
		
			 Financial year Department Strategic health authority NHS trust Primary care trust 
		
		
			 1996–97 14.699 (11)22.003 (11)107.152 (13)— 
			 1997–98 12.694 (11)24.838 (11)10.722 (13)— 
			 1998–99 7.332 (11)28.537 (11)93.072 (13)— 
			 1999–2000 8.132 (11)35.056 (11)93.304 (13)— 
			 2000–01 6.531 (11)42.097 (11)105.853 (11)0.948 
			 2001–02 6.800 (11)66.855 (11)125.948 (11)16.090 
			 2002–03 7.266 (11)19.648 (11)149.438 (11)59.154 
			 2003–04 (10)10.031 (12)— (12)— (12)— 
		
	
	(10) This is the latest figure included in the accounts, but the accounts have yet to be authorised.
	(11) Figures for NHS trusts and PCTs include both contract staffing and consultancy services.
	(12) Figures for strategic health authority, NHS trusts and PCTs not yet available for this year.
	(13) PCTs were not in existence for these years.

Data Protection

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what data protection rules apply to the transmission of UK health records to health authorities abroad.

John Hutton: The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates disclosures, including transfers abroad, of health information about identifiable living individuals. Subject to specified exemptions the Act requires data controllers, including national health service organisations, to comply with the eight 'data protection principles' set out in schedule 1, part 1 to the Act. The first and eighth principles are particularly relevant to transfers abroad. Where the foreign transfer is to a 'data processor', for example, any person or organisation processing data on behalf of the United Kingdom data controller, the seventh principle will also be important.
	Among other provisions, these three principles respectively provide that such transfers must be fair and lawful; ensure "an adequate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data" and include "appropriate technical and organisational measures" to protect the information.

Deafblind Awareness Week

Win Griffiths: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to be involved in and mark the celebration of Deafblind Awareness Week.

Stephen Ladyman: Although I was invited to an event organised by Sense to mark Deafblind Awareness Week, I was unfortunately unable to attend. I recognise the contributions of Sense, Deafblind UK and other organisations in the voluntary sector in raising awareness of the needs of deafblind people.

Dentistry

Nigel Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists have retired from dentistry in each year since 1997 for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: The available information in the table is from the National Health Service Pensions Agency for the number of pensions awarded in England and Wales where a NHS pension has been claimed prior to the scheme's normal retirement age and at the scheme's normal retirement age. These will include pensions paid on the grounds of ill health, premature retirements following redundancy and voluntary early retirement before age 60 (introduced from 6 March 1995).
	
		All dentists' retirements
		
			  Total dentist pension awards 
		
		
			 1997 359 
			 1998 333 
			 1999 322 
			 2000 314 
			 2001 363 
			 2002 375 
			 2003 363

Digital Hearing Aids

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many digital hearing aids were fitted in each of the past seven years in each region of England.

Stephen Ladyman: The national health service fitted very few, if any, digital hearing aids before September 2000. The modernising hearing aid services project began as a pilot project in September 2000, initially in only 20 sites. In the first 18 months of the project to April 2002, about 30,000 digital hearing aids were fitted. A further 42,000 aids were issued in the year to April 2003; and 80,000 were fitted in the year to April 2004. We are unable to give a breakdown of digital hearing aid provision by region.

Free NHS Treatment (Eligibility)

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  whether there are systematic checks on eligibility for free NHS treatment;
	(2)  what assessment has been made of the level of abuse of the NHS by people who have no right to free treatment.

John Hutton: General practitioner practices need to check details of an individual's residence or previous registration before deciding whether to accept the person as a registered patient, either on a permanent or temporary basis. This is set out in regulations and guidance. For hospital services, regulations require the National Health Service Trust providing treatment to make
	"such enquiries as it is satisfied are reasonable in all the circumstances, including the state of health of the overseas visitor"
	to determine a patient's chargeable status. Guidance makes clear that all patients should be asked baseline residency questions and to produce supporting basic evidence.
	Following the launch of the consultation on "Proposals to Exclude Overseas Visitors from Eligibility to Free NHS Primary Medical Services", a copy of which is available in the Library, we are undertaking an evidence gathering study that will seek to identify to what extent visitors to England are obtaining free NHS treatment inappropriately. We are proposing to publish the results of this in conjunction with the outcome of the consultation in autumn 2004. In addition, we have just started a study of 12 NHS trusts across the country, including monitoring impact of use by European Union accession countries.

General Practitioners (Night Calls)

Alan Hurst: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the cost to the national health service in payments for general practitioners for maintaining a night call out service for patients in each year from 1974 to 2003.

John Hutton: In 1974, £18.4 million is recorded has having been spent on payments to general medical service (QMS) general practitioners for out-of-hours responsibilities. In 2003, the total expenditure is recorded as £112.3 million. The full data is shown in the following tables.
	
		Payments for out-of-hours services by general medical practitioners1England 1973–74 to 2002–03
		
			  Amount (£000) 
		
		
			 1973–74 16,080 
			 1974–75 18,432 
			 1975–76 23,918 
			 1976–77 26,043 
			 1977–78 26,160 
			 1978–79 30,599 
			 1979–80 36,348 
			 1980–81 49,464 
			 1981–82 56,052 
			 1982–83 62,500 
			 1983–84 65,762 
			 1984–85 75,138 
			 1985–86 81,251 
			 1986–87 84,010 
			 1987–88 92,255 
			 1988–89 103,645 
			 1989–90 112,980 
			 1990–91 56,106 
		
	
	
		
			  Amount (£) 
		
		
			 1991–92 60,399,212 
			 1992–93 59,714,582 
			 1993–94 67,390,011 
			 1994–95 63,081,368 
			 1995–96 82,604,687 
			 1996–97 128,292,714 
			 1997–98 126,587,811 
			 1998–99 127,312,395 
			 1999–2000 129,849,905 
			 2000–01 128,869,510 
			 2001–02 118,638,953 
			 2002–03 112,315,234 
		
	
	Note:
	(14) Data for QMS only.
	Sources:
	1. Figures are taken from the relevant summarised accounts for 1973–74 to 1990–91.
	2. Annual financial returns of district and regional health authorities and the special health authorities for the London postgraduate teaching hospitals, 1991–92 to 1995–96.
	3. Annual financial returns of health authorities, 1996–97 to 2001–02.
	4. Annual financial returns of strategic health authorities, 2002–03.
	5. Annual financial returns of primary care trusts, 2000–01 to 2002–03.

Health Care Related Infection

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on progress in combating health care-related infection in England.

Melanie Johnson: Infection control within the national health service is improving and there are some excellent examples of good practice in our hospitals. We are determined to bring everywhere up to the standards of the best and the wide range of work under way is set out in "Towards cleaner hospitals and lower rates of infection".

Islington Primary Care Trust

Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding has been made available to the Islington Primary Care Trust for each year of its existence to date; and what the projected amounts are for future years.

John Hutton: Revenue allocations to Islington Primary Care Trust (PCT) from 2003–04 to 2005–06 were announced on 12 December 2002 as follows:
	
		
			  Amount (£000) 
		
		
			 2003–04 248,319 
			 2004–05 272,794 
			 2005–06 298,986 
		
	
	This was the first time allocations were made from the Department direct to PCTs. Prior to this, allocations were made direct to health authorities.

Leeds Community and Mental Health Trust

Harold Best: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what targets have been set for bed capacity in the Leeds Community and Mental Health Trust; at what level of bed capacity the Trust is operating; and if he will make a statement.

Melanie Johnson: In 2002–03, Leeds Mental Health Teaching National Health Service Trust had 608 beds, with an occupancy rate of 79.2 per cent.
	Source:
	Form KH03, Department of Health.

LIFT Projects

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make it his policy whenever possible to use local architects, builders and tradespeople in designing and building local investment finance trust (LIFT) projects in England; and if he will make a statement.

John Hutton: There is no size limit on firms participating in national health service local investment finance trust. It is a legal requirement to evaluate all competing bids in a transparent manner. Advertising through the Official Journal of the European Community means that competition is fair and open and non-discriminatory for all bidders. Contracts will be awarded to the bidders offering best value for money.

Medical Data Exchange (Cuba)

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what provisions are in place for exchange of medical data on UK citizens with Cuba.

John Hutton: The exchange of medical data between the United Kingdom and Cuba must be in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, the Human Rights Act 1998 and the common law duty of confidentiality. When these legal requirements are met, local organisations may establish provisions for exchanging medical data where this is a locally determined business requirement.

Ministerial Travel

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain was for (a) Ministers and (b) officials in his Department in the last year for which figures are available.

Rosie Winterton: The cost of air travel between Northern Ireland and Great Britain is not readily identifiable and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	All ministerial and civil service travel is undertaken in accordance with the rules set out in the Ministerial Code, Travel by Ministers, and the Civil Service Management Code, copies of which are available in the Library.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

Paul Burstow: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the implications are for current NHS practice of the World Health Organisation's re-classification of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome as a neurological disorder.

Stephen Ladyman: The World Health Organisation's international classification of diseases, ICD 10, provides a system of categories for international systematic recording. They are not diagnostic criteria and are not used by clinicians as such. Patients benefit most from a holistic model of care and new services are being developed to provide this. Services have not been designed around the ICD 10 in the past, nor do we expect them to be in the future.

NHS Beds

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many hospital beds there are in the national health service; and what plans he has to change the number.

John Hutton: In 2002–03 the average daily number of available national health service beds in England was 183,826. This includes acute, geriatric, mental illness, learning disability and maternity beds.
	The "NHS Improvement Plan" contains no targets for the total number of NHS beds. However, there is a major hospital building programme under way to deliver on commitments in the "NHS Plan" to improve NHS hospitals. The NHS is on course to exceed the two "NHS Plan" commitments of 100 new hospitals by 2010 and to reduce the age of hospitals such that over 40 per cent. of the NHS estate will be less than 15 years old by 2010.

NHS Posts (E-advertising)

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what research his Department conducted before deciding to introduce electronic recruitment of NHS job vacancies; and if he will place a copy of the conclusions in the Library.

John Hutton: A copy of the strategic case prepared by the Department for the procurement of the national health service e-recruitment service has been placed in the Library.

Non NICE-appraised Treatments

Andy King: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the patient choice initiative will allow patients to be treated with non-National Institute for Clinical Excellence appraised treatments if it is their choice and their clinicians concur.

John Hutton: From 2008, for planned hospital care, a patient will be able to choose any health care provider which meets the Government's standards for health care in England. The draft standards were published for consultation in the spring and will be published shortly.
	The new standards will require any health care organisations providing national health service treatment to conform to nationally agreed best practice or nationally agreed guidance, including National Institute for Clinical Excellence technology appraisals.

Pain Management

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance he gives to patients who are in severe pain while awaiting NHS treatment.

John Hutton: The Department does not issue guidance to patients on clinical issues such as this. The patient's general practitioner or another health care professional should provide guidance and advice on appropriate treatments or measures for reducing pain while waiting for further treatment.

Pharmaceutical Industry

Lawrie Quinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people are employed in the pharmaceutical industry in the UK; and what proportion are employed in (a) sales promotion and (b) research and development.

Rosie Winterton: In 2002, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) annual business inquiry showed that there were 83,000 people employed in the manufacture of pharmaceuticals, medicinal chemicals, and botanic products. The ONS business enterprise research and development survey showed that 29,000 people, or 35 per cent., were employed in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry. The Government do not have figures for the percentage of people employed in sales in this sector.

Supporting People Report (Gloucestershire)

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions he has had with (a) social services and (b) NHS bodies in Gloucestershire on the recent Supporting People Report.

Stephen Ladyman: I have not had any discussion specifically with Gloucestershire social services or national health service bodies, or with any other local social services or health bodies, about "Supporting People". But at the national level I remain in close contact with my ministerial colleagues in the Office of my right hon. Friend, the Deputy Prime Minister, who are in the lead on this important initiative. There is a considerable amount of work going on to take this initiative forward at both national and local levels and we will continue to involve stakeholders in this.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Balkans

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current security situation in (a) Kosovo and (b) the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Denis MacShane: The overall security situation in Kosovo is currently stable but tense. Since March, there continue to be isolated incidents of violence which have been contained by local law enforcement. As a means to enhance the exchange of information on security issues a Kosovo Security Advisory Group has been set up with representatives of all the Kosovo communities, UNMIK and KFOR.
	The security situation in Macedonia is stable, but fragile, particularly in the former crisis areas in the north west of the country. We judge that most violence is linked primarily to criminality. However, tensions could escalate as ongoing discussions on a number of issues, in particular the decentralisation process called for by the Ohrid Framework Agreement, come to a head.
	We continue to monitor the situation in both Kosovo and Macedonia carefully.

Belarus

Michael Trend: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment his Department has made of (a) the political situation in Belarus and (b) whether the forthcoming elections will be free and fair.

Denis MacShane: The failure of the Belarussian Government to adhere to European standards in respect of human rights, freedom of expression and democracy in Belarus remains a matter of concern to the Government. It is too early to assess the likely conduct of the elections. We have made clear to the Belarussian Government that we expect the authorities in Minsk to ensure that the elections are free and fair and that international observers will be invited.

Cameroon

David Chaytor: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his counterpart in Cameroon concerning (a) the preparations of the electoral roll for this year's presidential elections and (b) the treatment by the security forces of members of the parliamentary opposition during the demonstration held in Yaounde on 6 July; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mullin: I emphasised the importance of a free, fair and transparent election with President Biya when he visited the UK in March 2004. The UK maintains a constant dialogue with the Government of Cameroon on preparations for the election, including preparation of the electoral roll. We are aware of the incident at the opposition coalition's demonstration in Yaounde on 6 July. We monitor such events carefully.

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a reply will be sent to the hon. Member for Walsall, North's letter of 9 June concerning the entry clearance application at the British High Commission in New Delhi of Mr.Vijay Kumar.

Chris Mullin: UK visas replied to my hon. Friend on 14 July. I apologise for the delay.

Cyprus

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on de-mining operations in the buffer zone in Cyprus.

Denis MacShane: The Government are supportive of efforts to address this important issue and in our contacts with the Government of the Republic of Cyprus and Turkish Cypriot authorities we have urged them to move forward.
	It should also be noted that the European Commission is funding a de-mining project in Cyprus. This project is drawing on UK expertise and is partly funded by a UK contribution.

Cyprus

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the number of Turkish troops in Cyprus.

Denis MacShane: holding answer 19 July 2004
	We have no precise figures of our own. Current estimates are in the region of 25,000.
	The UN Secretary General's settlement plan provided for a phased withdrawal that would ultimately have allowed for the presence of 950 Greek troops in the south and 650 Turkish troops in the north. The rejection of the plan by the Greek Cypriots means this will not now take place.
	Any steps taken now to reduce existing troop levels would be welcome.

Cyprus

Andrew Dismore: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with Turkey concerning the extension of the Turkey/EU customs agreement to Cyprus; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The British Government, through a combination of direct ministerial contact and exchanges between British and Turkish officials in London, Ankara and Brussels, maintains a close dialogue with the Turkish Government on a wide range of issues related to Cyprus. The extension of the EU-Turkey customs union to all those EU member states who joined the EU on 1 May is one such issue. Implementation of the customs union is important to the effective functioning of the single market.
	I am glad to say that Turkish Foreign Minister Gul wrote on 10 June to the European Commission saying Turkey would take all measures to ensure functioning of the customs union from 1 May.

Departmental Expenditure

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much the Foreign Office spent on (a) advertising and (b) public relations consultants in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: In FY 2002–03—the most recent year for which audited figures are available—separately identifiable expenditure by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) on UK advertising totalled £743,783. Of this, £716,234 related to media spend on advertising for recruitment purposes. The balance related to consular media advertisements which aimed to raise awareness among the British public of the importance of being properly prepared before travelling overseas and to advertising of the FCO's public open days. The total figure is based on the final accounts for FY 2002–03 and replaces the figure which I supplied to the right hon. Gentleman on 7 January 2004, Official Report, column 411W, which drew on provisional calculations. I apologise to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for the fact that this was not made clear in my previous answer.
	The FCO's central expenditure on public relations consultancy in FY 2002–03 totalled £291,971. Of this, £268,862 was paid to a single agency for work on the Consular awareness-raising campaign, 'Know Before You Go'.
	The FCO's overseas posts and its non-departmental public bodies also commission advertising and occasionally employ public relations consultants, but details are not recorded centrally. Information about the costs incurred by these activities could be provided only at disproportionate costs.
	Records of expenditure by the FCO's expenditure on advertising and public relations consultants in FY 1996–97 are not held centrally. Figures for that year could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Departmental Expenditure

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the cost was of running Foreign Office canteen facilities in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

Jack Straw: In 1996–97, the cost of providing catering to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was £160,258.31.pa
	In 2003–04, the latest year for which figures are available, the cost of providing catering to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was £184,201.59.
	The figures provided are based upon the subsidy paid to the catering contractor, in each of the years, for the provision of the service in London and Hanslope Park. During the period concerned, there have been changes to the nature of the service provided. In 1996–97, the service in London consisted of one restaurant, one shop and one snack bar. In the intervening years, the snack bar has become a cafeteria with a much wider variety of food on offer.

Diego Garcia

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when a representative of his Department last visited the US prison facilities on Diego Garcia.

Bill Rammell: The only United States prison facilities on Diego Garcia are those established under United States Service law for the detention, as authorised by that law, of members of the United States armed forces and any accompanying civilian personnel and dependants. There is no record of any member of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office visiting those facilities. The US have made it clear that the British Indian Ocean Territory Commissioner's Representative on Diego Garcia would be permitted to visit at any time.

EU Presidency

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the main issues are which the Government intend to focus on during the UK's presidency of the European Union.

Denis MacShane: The overall Council Agenda for 2004–06 is set out clearly in the Multi-Annual Strategic Programme (MASP), copies of which have been placed in the Library of the House. The agenda for the UK Presidency will be determined, to a large extent, by the agenda we inherit from preceding Presidencies and their progress on the dossiers identified in the MASP. The Government are in the process of detailed planning and discussion within and between Departments at ministerial and official level to identify detailed policy themes for the UK Presidency, within the context of that broader agenda.

General Affairs and External Relations Council

Jimmy Hood: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what the outcome was of the General Affairs and External Relations Council held on 12 to 13 July; what the Government's stance was on the issues discussed, including its voting record; and if he will make a statement.

Denis MacShane: The information is as follows:
	Outcome of the 12 July 2004 General Affairs and External Relations Council
	My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and I represented the UK at the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) in Brussels on 12 July.
	Conclusions were agreed on Afghanistan, Western Balkans, Sudan, Iraq and Asia-Europe.
	General Affairs Session
	Presidency Work Programme
	The Presidency presented its work programme for the second half of 2004. Five priorities are identified in the work programme:
	Making a success of enlargement;
	Strengthening the European economy and reducing the administrative burden;
	The area of freedom, security and justice;
	The Union's future financial and budgetary structure: Agenda 2007;
	The EU's role in the world: an effective, coherent and committed external policy.
	Constitutional Treaty
	The Council decided that signature of the EU's Constitutional Treaty will take place in Rome on 29 October.
	Progress of Work in Other Council Configurations
	The Council took note of a progress report from the Presidency on work under way in the Council's other configurations (the Justice and Home Affairs Council, the Trade Council, Economic and Financial Affairs Council, the Transport and Communications Council and the Agriculture and Fisheries Council.)
	Relations With Ukraine
	The Council took note of the Presidency's work plan regarding implementation of the EU's Common Strategy on Ukraine.
	The Commission is expected to submit a formal proposal for an action plan to the Council in September 2004. This should lead to a comprehensive plan, which at the same time identifies clearly a limited number of key priorities and offers real incentives for further reform.
	The current Common Strategy on Ukraine expires in December 2004.
	Visas—Russia
	The Council decided to authorise the Commission to begin negotiations with the Russian Federation on facilitation of the issuance of short-stay visas to EU and Russian citizens.
	United Nations
	The Council approved a paper on the European Union's priorities for the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The emphasis of these priorities is to uphold and develop international law, and to effective multilateralism.
	External Relations Session
	WTO/DOHA Development Agenda
	The Council took note of the presentation made by Commissioner Lamy on the current state of the negotiations. The Council underlined the importance of reaching a satisfactory agreement at the WTO General Council at the end of July on the negotiating frameworks for agriculture, non-agricultural market access, the Singapore Issues, and development. The Council agreed to hold a special session of the Council in Brussels, which is foreseen for the 26 July 2004, with a view to establishing an EU position.
	Iraq
	The Council met the Iraqi Foreign Minister, Mr. Zebari, who indicated the areas in which he hoped the EU would be able to make a visible contribution to the political, economic and social reconstruction of his country. The Council welcomed this opportunity to discuss the future of Iraq with Mr. Zebari, and looked forward to deepening political engagement with Iraq. The Council warmly welcomed the restoration of sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government that took place on 28 June. It reaffirmed its support for the people of Iraq and the fully sovereign Iraqi Interim Government. Conclusions were agreed.
	Middle East Peace Process
	The Council examined the situation in relation with the Middle East Peace Process following in particular the Advisory Opinion rendered by the International Court of Justice on 9 July concerning
	"Legal consequences of the construction of a wall in the occupied Palestinian Territory".
	Asia-Europe
	The Council discussed the way ahead on preparations for the ASEM Summit and adopted conclusions.
	Sudan
	The Council expressed grave concern at the situation in Darfur and continued to emphasise the importance of humanitarian access, human rights and security. The Council called upon member states and other actors of the international community to substantially increase their support to the humanitarian relief effort under way. The Council welcomed the active involvement of the international community. The Council welcomed the efforts to address this issue at the UN Security Council. Conclusions were agreed.
	Western Balkans
	Serbia and Montenegro: The Council welcomed the outcome of the recent presidential elections in Serbia. It encouraged all democratic forces to work together in order to accelerate political and economic reforms, to fulfil all international obligations, including full co-operation with ICTY.
	Serbia and Montenegro/Kosovo: The Council confirmed that the new Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Kosovo, Mr. Soren Jessen-Petersen, will have the full support of the European Union.
	Bosnia and Herzegovina/ICTY: The Council strongly supported the measures announced on 30 June by EUSR and High Representative Paddy Ashdown to help ensure that Bosnia and Herzegovina co-operates fully with the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
	Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: The Council expressed its gratitude to the outgoing EU Special Representative, Mr. Soren Jessen-Petersen, for his vital contribution to the consolidation of peace and stability in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. It appointed ambassador Michael Sahlin as his successor, who will take up the position of EUSR on 1 August 2004.
	Conclusions were agreed.
	Afghanistan
	The Council welcomed the decision announced by the Joint Electoral Monitoring Body (JEMB) to hold presidential elections in Afghanistan on 9 October 2004. These elections are a key requirement under the Bonn Agreement of December 2001 and represent a new milestone in the process of constructing a democratic, stable and prosperous Afghanistan. Conclusions were agreed.
	European Security and Defence Policy
	EU military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
	The Council adopted a Joint Action on the European Union Military Operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This follows the decision by NATO to conclude its successful SFOR-operation and the adoption by the United Nations Security Council of Resolution 1551. Major General A. David Leakey (UK) was appointed EU Force Commander.
	European Union Special Representative in BiH
	The Council adopted a Joint Action revising the mandate of the European Union Special Representative (EUSR) in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Paddy Ashdown.
	European Defence Agency
	The Council formally adopted a Joint Action establishing an Agency in the field of defence capabilities development, research, acquisition and armaments—to be known as the European Defence Agency.

Honduras

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government have made to the Government of Honduras on the murder in June this year of 29 Honduran children and young people.

Bill Rammell: We have not made specific representations to the Honduran Government about the deaths of 29 children and young people in June as reported by Casa Alianza, the leading NGO in Central America dealing with child protection.
	We have a regular and on-going dialogue with the Government of Honduras and with NGOs on the issue of child protection. We are currently co-funding an investigation into the juvenile justice system in Honduras, run by the University of Essex's Children's Legal Centre. The study, for which our Ambassador has secured the full support of the Honduran Government, will make recommendations to improve juvenile justice and child protection in line with Honduras's commitments to international human rights norms.
	I also refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 8 July 2004(Official Report, column 851W) which describes dialogue we have had with the Honduran Government bilaterally and with EU partners.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he was informed that SIS had withdrawn reporting from the source who claimed that production of biological and chemical agents had been accelerated by the Iraqi regime, because the source of the reporting had subsequently been deemed unreliable.

Jack Straw: I became aware of the withdrawal of this reporting when I agreed, in response to a request from SIS on 8 September 2003, that the reports in question should be disclosed to the Intelligence and Security Committee.

Special Advisers

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Department announced in the comprehensive spending review will be of special advisers.

Jack Straw: None. There are only two Special Advisers in post.

Marine Wildlife Conservation Bill

Tam Dalyell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to his statement in the debate on European Affairs of 16 June 2004, Official Report, columns 786–7, what steps he has taken personally to pursue the substance of the Bill on Marine Wildlife Conservation put forward by the hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall); and if he will make a statement.

Bill Rammell: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has asked me to reply.
	As my hon. friend knows, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs leads on this issue. We note, however, that the Private Members Bill on Marine Wildlife Conservation put forward by the hon. Member for Uxbridge (Mr. Randall) has been tabled for second Reading on Friday 15 October.

Regeneration Projects

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how much money the European Union has provided to regeneration projects in each member state in (a) 1990, (b) 1995, (c) 2000 and (d) 2004.

Denis MacShane: The Commission does not produce specific figures for funds spent on regeneration projects. However, figures for the overall spends on structural and cohesion funds across EU member states in 1990, 1995 and 2000 are set out in the following table. The figures for 2004 have yet to be released. Figures for 1990 and 1995 are in ECU millions and for 2000 in € millions.
	
		
			 Country 1990 1995 2000 
		
		
			 Belgium 154.903 178.59 1,829 
			 Denmark 76.66 104.40 745 
			 Germany 511.261 3,039.76 28,156 
			 Greece 1,171.523 2,714.68 20,961 
			 Spain 2,836.067 6,076.89 43,087 
			 France 1,231.601 1,663.61 14,794 
			 Ireland 730.087 996.85 3,088 
			 Italy 1,624.853 2,353.29 28,484 
			 Luxembourg 10.139 11.75 78 
			 Netherlands 142.867 241.16 2,635 
			 Portugal 1,067.048 1,527.70 19,029 
			 United Kingdom 1,107.894 1,637.10 15,635 
			 Austria — 343.97 1,473 
			 Finland — 353.34 1,908 
			 Sweden — 309.36 1,836

Security Wall (Israel)

Jenny Tonge: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts concerning the Israeli High Court ruling on human rights breaches since the construction of the security wall, in relation to the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Denis MacShane: My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has had no discussions with his EU counterparts on the Israeli High Court ruling on human rights breaches since the construction of the security wall in relation to the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Spending Review

Michael Ancram: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs pursuant to the oral statement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer of Monday 12 July 2004, Official Report, columns 1129–39, on the spending review, what percentage of the 1.4 per cent. spending increase allocated to his Department will be given back to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the form of departmental assets to be sold off under his £30 billion Government asset sale.

Jack Straw: None. We have an agreed asset-recycling programme with Her Majesty's Treasury which allows the Foreign and Commonwealth Office to reinvest estate sales receipts, primarily for the modernisation of the estate both overseas and in the UK.

Sri Lanka

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations the Government has made to the Government of Sri Lanka regarding the break-in at the office of the National Christian Evangelical Alliance of Sri Lanka on 3 July 2004.

Mike O'Brien: We have not made representations to the Government of Sri Lanka regarding this specific incident. Our High Commission in Colombo continues to urge the Sri Lankan authorities to ensure that those responsible for attacks such as this are brought to justice, and that the rights of all religious minorities in Sri Lanka are respected.

UK Foreign Direct Investment

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how the UK's foreign direct investment has changed since the European Union enlargement.

Mike O'Brien: It is too early yet to draw any meaningful conclusions.

Vietnam

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Government of Vietnam; and what representations he has made with regard to the treatment of Christians, with particular reference to evangelicals.

Mike O'Brien: We have regular discussions with the Vietnamese Government on a range of issues, including religious freedom and other human rights issues. We are deeply concerned at the severe restrictions on some Protestant groups in Vietnam, especially ethnic minority Protestants in the Central Highlands region.
	We regularly raise our human rights concerns. I raised during my visit to Vietnam in March again the situation in the Central Highlands with the President of Vietnam during his official visit to the UK. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary also raised our human rights concerns in Vietnam the same day with the Vietnamese Foreign Minister.
	With EU partners, we also participate in a regular human rights dialogue with Vietnam. The most recent EU-Vietnam human rights dialogue meeting took place on 22 June and was attended by our Ambassador in Hanoi. We raised freedom of religion and the situation of the Protestants in Vietnam.
	We will continue to raise our concerns at every suitable opportunity.

Visas

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what criteria are used by entry clearance officers overseas to assess the personal guarantee of an hon. Member that an applicant will abide by the terms of their visa and return to the country of origin.

Chris Mullin: It is not our policy to ask hon. Members for personal guarantees as such personal guarantees are not enforceable in UK law. However, assurances given by an hon. Member reflecting close personal knowledge of a sponsor or applicant would be taken into account by the Entry Clearance Officer considering an application in conjunction with other available evidence.

Visas

Clive Efford: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on what authority entry clearance officers offer to overturn a decision to refuse a visa in return for a personal guarantee from an hon. Member that the applicant will abide by the terms of the visa.

Chris Mullin: Entry Clearance Officers have no authority to overturn a decision to refuse a visa in return for a personal guarantee from an hon. Member that the applicant will abide by the terms of the visa.
	However, an Entry Clearance Officer or Entry Clearance Manager reviewing a decision to refuse a visa would take into account subsequent representations made by an hon. Member. These might, in a borderline case, help to satisfy him or her that the relevant requirements of the Immigration Rules were met and he might therefore be prepared to overturn the refusal.

TRADE AND INDUSTRY

Correspondence

David Winnick: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry when a reply will be sent to the hon. Member for Walsall North's letter of 3 June to the Department for Work and Pensions, which was transferred to her Department on 10 June.

Gerry Sutcliffe: My hon. Friend the Member for Walsall North was sent a reply to his letter on 19 July 2004.

Correspondence

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 23 April 2004, Official Report, column 684W, on Royal Mail, when she expects Royal Mail to reply to the hon. Member for Gordon; and if she will make a statement on the average time taken for Post Office Ltd. and Royal Mail to write to hon. Members when her Department redirects parliamentary questions to them.

Stephen Timms: Royal Mail and Post Office Ltd. make every effort to issue replies to hon. Members within five working days of receiving our request for information.
	It would appear that due to an administrative error the hon. Member's inquiry of 22 April 2004 was not passed on to Mr. Crozier's office at Royal Mail for a direct reply. This has now been done and a response will be sent direct to the hon. Member within the next few days.

Departmental Expenditure

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how much her Department spent on (a) head-hunters and recruitment consultants and (b) management consultants in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available.

Patricia Hewitt: In 2002–03, £0.9 million was spent on head-hunters and recruitment consultants and £19.4 million was spent on General Business consultants. Similar information for 1996–97 is not available and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Departmental Expenditure

John Randall: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what the cost of running the Department's canteen facilities was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

Patricia Hewitt: The information is as follows:
	(a) In financial year 1996–97 the direct cost of running the Department's staff restaurant facilities in its main HQ buildings was about £325,000.
	(b) Since June 2000, the Department's staff restaurant facilities have operated on a zero (nil) cash subsidy basis.

EU Structural Funds

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry pursuant to the answer of 15 March 2004, Official Report, column 64W, on European Union Standard Funds, what actual expenditure was against those allocations for each year between 2000 and 2003.

Jacqui Smith: European Structural Fund expenditure under the 2000–06 programmes is monitored on an annual basis. Under current regulations, each year's allocation has to be spent by the end of the second year following the year of allocation.
	Due to the late start of the Objective 2 programmes, only the Objective 1 and 3 programmes were required to spend their 2000 allocations by the end of 2002. For the UK Objective 1 programmes a total of £622.3 million had to be spent and for Objective 3 the figure was £402.1 million. These overall targets were achieved. The targets for the end of 2003 included both the 2000 and 2001 allocations for the Objective 2 programmes. A total of £3,150 million had to be spent and this figure was surpassed by £308 million.

MOX Shipments

Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what proportion of the time and person power of the Office for Civil Nuclear Security will be committed to overseeing the security of the British registered PNTL nuclear transport ships in their mission to transport plutonium-based MOX test assemblies from France to the United States.

Stephen Timms: Staff in the Office for Civil Nuclear Security will spend whatever proportion of their time is necessary to review the draft Transport Plan with a view to its approval and, if approved, to oversee its implementation. The resources required cannot be firmly estimated in advance but I would expect them to account for no more than a moderate proportion of total OCNS resources.

Regional State Aid

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will place the initial member state response to the EU Commission proposals on regional state aid in the Library.

Jacqui Smith: The Government's response to the Commission's proposals for reform of regional state aid is due to be issued imminently. We will be making our response public. It will be placed on the Department's website and copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Renewable Energy

Ben Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what estimates have been made of the costs of concrete production for the purpose of wind power generation.

Stephen Timms: A number of studies have estimated the overall environmental cost of building wind power generation. For example, the British Wind Energy Association states that the average wind farm in the UK will pay back the energy used in its manufacture within three to five months, and over its lifetime a wind turbine will produce over 30 times more energy than was used in its manufacture. This compares favourably with coal or nuclear power stations, which take about six months.

Renewable Energy

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what plans she has to increase the amount of renewable energy sources within London.

Stephen Timms: The Department and the Government Office for London are working closely with the GLA in taking forward the implementation of the Mayor of London's Energy Strategy, which the Government has welcomed.
	London will benefit from the range of measures the Government has put in place to deliver its target of 10 per cent. of electricity supply from renewable sources by 2010: including Renewables Obligation on suppliers, grant support and exemption from climate change levy.

Renewable Energy

Alan Meale: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will list the range of the capital grant support available for renewable energy projects in the areas of (a) biomass, (b) photovoltaics and (c) solar water heating.

Stephen Timms: The information requested is as follows.
	(a) Biomass—DTI and the Big Lottery Fund have allocated 66 million through the Bioenergy Capital Grants Scheme to encourage the efficient use of biomass, and particularly energy groups, for energy production by stimulating the early deployment of biomass fuelled heat and electricity generation projects.
	(b) Photovoltaics—The £25 million Photovoltaic Major Demonstration Programme offers grants to householders, public bodies, small to medium enterprises and larger bodies for the installation of PV panels. Householders can get a grant of up to £3,000 and £4,250, dependent on size and type of installation. For public bodies, small to medium enterprises and larger bodies grants between 40 per cent. and 60 per cent. are available on a competitive basis, assessed independently at selection panels.
	(c) Solar Water Heating—Grants are available through the Clear Skies initiative; householders can get a grant of £400 towards the cost of an installation. Community and not-for-profit groups can get a grant of 50 per cent., up to a maximum of £100,000, towards the cost of installation. This is done through a competitive application process, at independent assessment panels, on a round by round basis. The £10 million Clear Skies initiative was launched in January 2003 in order to promote the uptake of a number of renewable technologies including solar heating panels. Further details of the initiative, including grant levels for all the technologies supported, can be found on the website at www.clear-skies.org.
	The Scottish Executive has its own parallel scheme, the £3.7 million Scottish Community and Household Renewables Initiative, which also offers grants for the installation of solar water heating panels. Householders can get a grant of 30 per cent. up to a maximum of £4,000 for a solar water heating installation. Community organisations can get a 100 per cent. grant up to a maximum of £100,000. Community applications are assessed on essential and desirable criteria and large-scale projects may also be subject to independent technical assessment.
	Further details can be found on the website www.est.co.uk/schri.

Rural Post Offices

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry 
	(1)  how much money has been spent in the last year on supporting rural post offices;
	(2)  what plans she has for the funding of the rural post office network after 2006.

Stephen Timms: The Government have made available £450 million to maintain the rural network up in the first instance until April 2006.
	The Cabinet Office Performance and Innovation Unit (PIU) report on the future of the post office network recommended that the Postal Services Commission should advise the Government on the main options for the policy framework after 2006. The Government are currently considering that policy advice and will take decisions on the shape of the rural post office network after 2006 in good time to allow for a smooth transition from the current support arrangements.

Scientific Research Funding

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what her Department's policy is on funding for scientific research bodies.

Patricia Hewitt: My Department funds world-class research with the aim of making the UK one of the most competitive locations for science, research and development and for innovation in the world.
	The Government's policy is set out in more detail in the "Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004–14", published as part of this year's Spending Review. Spending for the current period is set out in the "Science Budget 2003–04 to 2005–06" copies of which are available in the Libraries of the House.

South-West Regional Development Agency

Diana Organ: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what percentage of the South-West Regional Development Agency's budget has been spent on projects or programmes in Gloucestershire in the last three years.

Jacqui Smith: I understand that the South West of England Regional Development Agency incurred expenditure of £44 million for projects in Gloucestershire in the years 2001–04. This represents 13 per cent. of SWRDA's total programme budget for these years. This figure does not, of course, capture the total percentage of SWRDA's project and programme expenditure that benefits the county, as Gloucestershire also benefits substantially from a range of regional projects and programmes funded by SWRDA, where expenditure is not directly attributable to individual county areas.

Tyres

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many tyres were (a) purchased, (b) reused and (c) disposed of by (i) landfill, (ii) incineration, (iii) illegal fly-tipping and (iv) other means in each year since 2001.

Stephen Timms: DTI compiles figures on behalf of the Used Tyre Working Group on used tyre recovery and disposal.
	Statistics on replacement tyre sales are provided as follows by the British Rubber Manufacturers' Association and the Imported Tyre Manufacturers' Association. The figures for 2003 are expected to be received shortly. While these sources represent the majority of activity in this sector, there are other, diverse, routes to market and for this reason the figures should be viewed as indicative, rather than absolute. A similar caution applies to the information relating to used tyre disposal and recovery.
	
		
			 Replacement tyre sales 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Units 24,870,298 25,485,101 
			 Tonnes 234,250 240,000 
		
	
	A figure for total used tyres arisings also needs to take account of various reuse tyres, not included in the figures above, including retreads and part-worns, tyres on end of life vehicles and imports of used tyres.
	
		
			 Used tyre arisings 2001 2002 
		
		
			 Units 52,832,000 47,169,500 
			 Tonnes 481,500 447,000 
		
	
	
		Tonnes
		
			  2001 2002 
		
		
			 Reused 117,650 105,100 
			 Energy recovery(15) 40,000 48,000 
			 Other recovery 132,850 147,400 
			 Total 290,500 300,500 
		
	
	(15) Figures relate solely to the use of tyres as fuel in cement kilns.
	Not all industry returns have yet been received to enable presentation of the 2003 figures, but it is estimated that the use of tyres in cement kilns rose to almost 80,000 tonnes and other recovery approached 190,000 tonnes.
	Tyres disposed of to landfill arise from two principal channels, retail outlets and end of life vehicles (ELVs). In the former case, figures show a sharp drop from over 87,000 tonnes in 2001 to around 42,000 tonnes in 2002. The 2003 figures are expected to show a further significant diversion of tyres away from landfill disposal. Tyres are also disposed of to landfill as part of automotive shredder residue. The figures for 2001 and 2002 are similar at around 57,000 tonnes, although it should be noted that this total derives from an assumption that all ELV tyres not reused as part-worns or retreads are disposed of in this way.
	For both 2001 and 2002 this leaves around a 10 per cent. gap between estimated tyre arisings and stated recovery and disposal. The difference may be due to a number of factors including over-reporting of arisings and under-reporting of recovery and disposal, together with any tyres that are stored or are otherwise not consigned for immediate treatment.
	Tyre fly-tipping takes a number of forms, including that dealt with by landowners and local authorities as well as those tyres that are dumped on the forecourts of tyre retail premises, and there are, as yet, no overall figures quantifying this illegal activity. However, The Environment Agency (EA) estimates that £1.65 million is spent annually by local authorities on tyre related fly-tipping. In addition, a joint Defra/EA report estimated that 8,700 tonnes of tyres were fly-tipped on agricultural land in 2001, equating to a cost of £1.3 million. There are a range of other affected landowners including British Waterways, Railtrack and the National Trust. In addition, there is fly-tipping on tyre retail premises where the retailer will subsequently meet the costs of disposal. A third of respondees to a 2003 survey by the representative body for tyre retailers reported that they had been subject to tyre fly-tipping. Since April 2004, Flycapture, a web-based fly-tipping database for England and Wales managed by the EA on behalf of Defra, has been operational. The database, populated with information provided by both the EA and local authorities, provides a systematic basis for the collection of information relating to all fly-tipped wastes, including tyres.

Working Time Directive

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with Labour Members of the European Parliament about the Working Time Directive.

Gerry Sutcliffe: I have had several discussions on working time with Labour MEPs as well as those from the main parties both in person in Brussels and by telephone. I have also discussed working time with MEPs from other member states. My officials also have kept in contact with MEPs and provided written briefings on the Government's position.

Working Time Directive

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what discussions she has had with representatives of British industry about the Working Time Directive.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Government regularly meet representatives from British industry to discuss a wide range of issues, including employment law and the operation of the Working Time Directive.

CONSTITUTIONAL AFFAIRS

Departmental Expenditure

Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much his Department spent on (a) mobile telephone costs, (b) hospitality and (c) taxi costs in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: The information requested is as follows.
	(a) Total mobile telephone costs for the Department, which covers costs for the Court Service, the Public Guardianship Office and DCA Headquarters for 2003–04 is £295,742.
	(b) Total hospitality (entertainment) costs for the Department, which covers costs for the Court Service, the Public Guardianship Office and DCA Headquarters for 2003–04 is £79,050.
	Information on 1996–97 is not readily available.
	(c) It is not possible for the Department to provide the full detailed information requested without incurring disproportionate cost.
	The Department has published rules for official travel in its staff handbook and all travel complied with the requirements of the Civil Service Management Code.

Departmental Expenditure

Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the total cost of printing departmental headed notepaper was in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: The Department for Constitutional Affairs also replies on behalf of its Associated Offices and the Court Service.
	The Department's expenditure on departmental headed notepaper in 2003–04 was £7,738.
	Expenditure on notepaper during 1996–97 is included in general stationery costs and cannot be separately identified.

Departmental Expenditure

Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how much his Department spent on (a) head-hunters and recruitment consultants and (b) management consultants in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) the latest year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: The Department for Constitutional Affairs also replies on behalf of its Associated Offices and the Court Service.
	(a) The term "head-hunters and recruitment consultants" is taken to refer to the use of specialist agencies in recruitment to key posts and public appointments.
	(i) In 2003–04 the Department's expenditure on recruitment consultants was £414,827. The majority of this concerned the establishment of the new agency (HM Courts Service) and lay members of the 42 new local Courts Boards.
	(ii) In 1996–97 information on the use of recruitment consultants was not collated centrally and could now be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	(b) The Department's net expenditure with management consultants in the financial years 1996–97 and 2002–03 was £1.09 million and £5.75 million respectively. (Expenditure is only collected on an annual basis and the figure for 2003–04 is not yet available.)
	This increase in expenditure reflects the wide-ranging and fast-paced programme to modernise the Department's work, to increase efficiency, provide better customer service, and value for money for the taxpayer.

Departmental Expenditure

Alan Duncan: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the costs of running his Department's canteen facilities were in (a) 1996–97 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

David Lammy: The Department for Constitutional Affairs also replies on behalf of its Associated Offices and the Court Service.
	"Canteen Facilities" is taken to mean facilities provided primarily for use by the Department's staff. This approach is consistent with the definition used in previous questions.
	(a) The Department operated several staff canteens at various locations during 1996–97 but the running cost of these facilities can only be separated out at disproportionate cost to the Department.
	(b) At present the Department operates only one staff canteen, in its London headquarters where there is a concentration staff.
	Visitors to the building also use the facility.
	Income from sales is used to offset the cost to the Department. However, there is a need for a subsidy, the cost of which was £94,791 in 2003–04.

Departmental Staffing

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs how many staff are employed in the Department, broken down by work category.

David Lammy: The Department does not hold information broken down by work category. However, data on staffing levels in the civil service are collected from Departments and agencies twice-yearly, in April and October. Headline figures are published under National Statistics guidelines via a press notice. Those for October 2003 were published on 22 April 2004. A copy of the press notice, accompanying media brief and supporting tables is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/news/2004/040422 latest asp/ these documents are also placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	More detailed information on the civil service is published annually in 'Civil Service Statistics', copies of which are laid in the Libraries of both Houses. The last edition, based on April 2002 data, was published in July 2003. The next edition, based on April 2003 data, is due to be published at the end of July 2004.
	The Cabinet Office publishes information on non-departmental public bodies in its annual publication 'Public Bodies'. The information includes details of the number of staff employed by each NDPB at 31 March each year. 'Public Bodies 2003' was published in 16 July 2003. Copies of 'Public Bodies' published each year since 1997 are available in the Libraries of both Houses. http://www.cabinet-office.gov.uk/agencies- publicbodies.

Departmental Staffing

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the reasons are for changes in staff numbers in (a) the Department, (b) the National Archives and (c) the Northern Ireland Court Service between 1998–99 and 2003–04.

David Lammy: The reasons for changes in staff numbers between 1998–99 and 2003–04 for the following are:
	(a) The Department for Constitutional Affairs
	During the period we recruited an extra 700 staff to support the Immigration Appellate Authority (IAA) and its work of processing asylum appeals.
	We have also seen an increase in the Court Service due to an increase in workload including sitting days.
	(b) The National Archives
	Changes in staff numbers in the National Archives are due to the increase in service provision to the public and Government Departments.
	(c) Northern Ireland Court Service
	Staff numbers in the Northern Ireland Court Service have changed between 1998–99 (628 staff) and 2003–04 (757 staff) as a direct response to delivering the Government's agenda to modernise the delivery of justice. This included responding to the recommendations of the Northern Ireland Criminal Justice Review which significantly reforms criminal justice in Northern Ireland. Other influencing factors include the Court Service's modernisation programme which will enhance the delivery of frontline services.

Information Commissioner

Jonathan Djanogly: To ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what the costs of staff employed in the Office of the Information Commissioner were in the last year for which figures are available; and what the costs are of the new offices in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in this financial year.

David Lammy: Staff costs for the year ended 31 March 2004 were:
	
		£
		
			  Amount 
		
		
			 Salaries 3,804,953 
			 Social security costs 278,965 
			 Other pension costs 481,345 
			 Temporary agency staff 114,241 
			 Total 4,679,504 
		
	
	Costs for the new offices in (a) Wales, (b) Scotland and (c) Northern Ireland in 2004–05 are budgeted to be:
	
		£
		
			  (a) (b) (c) Total 
		
		
			 Staff cost 65,005 65,005 65,005 195,015 
			 Travel and subsistence 20,500 20,500 20,500 61,500 
			 Consultancy 5,000 5,000 5,000 15,000 
			 Library and subscriptions 1,500 1,500 1,500 4,500 
			 Stationery 1,000 1,000 1,000 3,000 
			 Accommodation 20,000 20,000 20,000 60,000

TREASURY

Barnett Formula

Jim Cousins: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the growth was in public expenditure between 2000–01 and 2003–04 (a) which was used as comparable spending with Scotland for the purposes of the Barnett Formula, (b) for Barnett comparable spending in Scotland and (c) in the North East for programmes which were comparable with the Barnett Formula compensation programmes in Scotland.

Paul Boateng: Information on identifiable public spending in Scotland and the North East is published in Chapter 8 of Public Expenditure Spending Analyses (Cmd. 6201). The basis of the Barnett formula comparability factors used for the 2004 Spending Review was published in the Statement of Funding Policy in July 2004 and for the 2002 Spending Review in July 2002. The Barnett formula is used to determine increases in spending of the devolved administrations, rather than the levels of spending in English regions .

Civil Service Employment

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the net number is of civil service posts created since 1997 (a) in front-line services and (b) elsewhere (i) in each Government Department and agency and (ii) in total.

Paul Boateng: Details of civil service statistics for each Government Department and agency can be found at the following website: http://www.civil-service.gov.uk/statistics/css.htm.

Civil Service Employment

Andrew Turner: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what his estimate is of the cost of early retirement and redundancy packages (a) in total and (b) in each Department for those civil servants whose posts are abolished pursuant to his announcement on 12 July 2004.

Paul Boateng: All retirement and redundancy plans are developed and costed on a departmental basis—this is still being planned. The Efficiency Challenge Fund will help support departments, and Cabinet Office is providing a brokerage service to assist with the management of these workforce changes.

Education Maintenance Allowance (Benefit Entitlement)

Harold Best: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer for what reasons (a) parents of A-Level students aged 16 to 19 years receiving education maintenance allowance are eligible for child benefit and child tax credits and (b) parents of children aged 16 to 19 years receiving education maintenance allowance studying for college-based vocational qualifications are not eligible for child benefit and child tax credit.

Dawn Primarolo: The parents of all students aged 16 to 19 who are undertaking courses of full-time, non-advanced education in respect of academic or vocational qualifications and who are receiving educational maintenance allowance will be eligible for child benefit and child tax credit.
	However, the Government are aware of the disparity in support to parents of children in full time education and unwaged training and intend to extend entitlement to child benefit and child tax credit for these young people at the earliest opportunity.
	I refer my hon. Friend to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne, Central (Mr. Cousins) on 6 July 2004, Official Report, column 623W.

EU Withdrawal (Costs)

Ian Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will commission and publish a study into the costs of UK withdrawal from the EU, which includes the economic and social impact on each region and nation of the UK.

George Foulkes: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent assessment he has made of the effects on the UK economy of membership of the European single market.

Ruth Kelly: The assessment of the five economic tests, published 9 June 2003, states,
	"With more than half the UK's trade with the EU and increasing integration of product, labour, and capital markets, the UK's economic interest is best pursued through a deepening cooperation with other European countries as part of the Government's commitment to strong EU and successful EMU."
	The Treasury estimates that 3 million jobs in the UK are linked, directly and indirectly, to the export of goods and services to the European Union.

International Economy

Jackie Lawrence: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the international economy.

John Healey: On 3 June, in recognition of the pressures in the oil market and because of a shortage of oil supply to meet demand, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that we would be reviewing progress of the annual fuel duty increase planned for 1 September.
	The Government's focus since 3 June has been on OPEC and oil producers and their responsibilities to meet their own targets on sustainable oil prices, and we have sought to await the outcome of this month's OPEC Ministers meeting before making a further statement. I will give further details of discussions and progress to Members of the House when I appear before the Treasury Select Committee tomorrow.
	With the next meeting of OPEC Ministers now moved from July to September, and in light of the continuing uncertainty in the oil market, we have decided to keep the planned increase, including for sulphur-free fuel and rebated fuels, under review, and will report back further at the time of the pre-Budget report. Because of its environmental benefits the Government remain committed to the introduction of sulphur free fuel, and will be in discussion with the industry over its availability across the country. The Chancellor of the Exchequer will also report back on this issue at the time of the pre-Budget report.

Network Rail Debts

Peter Luff: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer who will guarantee the debts of Network Rail after the abolition of the Strategic Rail Authority; and whether they will now count as part of the Government's borrowing requirement.

Paul Boateng: When it is wound up, the SRA's duties and financial obligations, including those in support of Network Rail's borrowing, will transfer to the Department for Transport. This will not affect the classification of Network Rail or its debt.

Pay Systems

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will place in the Library the most recent review of (a) his Department's pay systems, (b) the pay systems of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible and (c) the departmental equal pay action plan.

Ruth Kelly: Information on the most recent reviews of pay systems of the Chancellor's Departments and of their equal pay action plans has been deposited in the Library. The Chancellor is not responsible for any non-departmental public bodies.

Special Advisers

Nigel Evans: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Department announced in the spending review will be of special advisers.

Paul Boateng: Special advisers are appointed by Ministers, with the approval of the Prime Minister, in accordance with Article 3(2) of the Civil Service Order in Council 1995 (as amended).
	Spending Review 2004 published planned reductions in civil service and public administration posts of 84,150 by 2008, including the redeployment of 13,550 to front line posts/activities. Details of these reductions are a matter for individual Departments. Progress on meeting the efficiency targets will be publicly reported so that the Government are accountable for the results. Departments will report progress through their departmental reports and on their website.

Spending Review

Patrick Cormack: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his Statement of 12 July 2004, Official Report, column 1131, on Spending Review, if he will list the £30 billion worth of asset sales included in the objective; and when he expects the sales to be completed.

Paul Boateng: The £30 billion objective for asset sales covers the period to 2010 and relates to the public sector as a whole. While decisions on specific asset disposals are for individual Government Departments and local authorities, these decisions will be informed by the work that Chancellor has commissioned from Sir Michael Lyons.

Spending Review

Oliver Letwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will make a statement on the differences between planned administration expenditure by department in Table 2.3 of the 2004 Spending Review Report and Table 5.1 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2004.

Paul Boateng: The administration budgets in table 2.3 of the 2004 Spending Review are net of all income departments generate through their administrative expenditure. The figures in Table 5.1 of the Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses 2004 are only net of the element of this income that forms part of other departments' administration costs.
	Figures published in the Spending Review take account of reclassifications implemented in line with the recommendation of made by Sir Peter Gershon.

Tax Credits (Compensatory Payments)

Steve Webb: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many tax credit compensation claims have been (a) submitted and (b) upheld since April 2003; and what the (i) average and (ii) total value is of compensation payments made.

Bill Tynan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to his answer of 23 June 2004, Official Report, column 1411W, what the value of compensatory payments made to those receiving tax credits was in the last financial year.

Dawn Primarolo: A total of 10,800 compensation payments for tax credits were authorised in 2003–04. This represents about one eighth of one per cent of all claims received for tax credit awards. The total value of these payments was £370,000, and the average payment was £34. 255 claims were refused.

Tobacco Smuggling

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what discussions he has had on making the UK a co-signatory to the Anti-Contraband and Anti-Counterfeit Agreement and General Release reached on 19 July between the European Community, Philip Morris International and subsidiary companies;
	(2)  what recent discussions Her Majesty's Customs and Excise have had with (a) Philip Morris International, (b) British American Tobacco, (c) Imperial Tobacco and (d) Gallaher Group plc on the status of the Memorandum of Understanding on the smuggling of tobacco products which these companies have with the Government;
	(3)  what discussions he has had with OLAF, the European Anti-fraud Office, concerning the agreement on tobacco smuggling recently reached between the European Council and Philip Morris International.

John Healey: HM Customs and Excise have Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Gallaher. As part of these, Customs meet regularly to discuss developments in the illicit market including the status of the MOUs.
	Although Customs do not currently have an MOU with Philip Morris International (PMI), as their products have much less significance in either the licit or illicit UK tobacco market, they meet regularly to discuss developments in the illicit market.
	The UK was not part of the European action taken against PMI in August 2001.
	There have been no discussions on making the UK a co-signatory to the Anti-Contraband and Anti-Counterfeit Agreement.

Tobacco Smuggling

David Taylor: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what plans there are to bring the Memorandum of Understanding on tobacco smuggling in line with the terms of the Anti-Contraband and Anti-Counterfeit Agreement and General Release reached on 9 July between the European Council and Philip Morris International.

John Healey: HM Customs and Excise have Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) in place with the main UK tobacco manufacturers, the first of which was agreed in July 2002. Since its peak in 2000–01, the illicit cigarette market has been successfully reduced by more than 2.5 billion sticks per annum and the incidence of UK manufactured cigarettes being smuggled into the UK has fallen markedly from about 75 per cent. of large seizures to 31 per cent. in 2002–03.
	Customs regularly assess the size and composition of the illicit cigarette market in the UK and take the measures they consider will continue their successful strategy of reducing smuggling. We will assess the detail of the Anti-Contraband and Anti-Counterfeit Agreement and consider whether we would wish to become a co-signatory to the Agreement.

Working Tax Credits (Recovery of Overpayments)

Alan Simpson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what assessment his Department has made of the number of low paid workers who give up work due to inability to afford child care places consequent on the reclaiming of overpaid working tax credits; and what his assessment is of the impact on business.

Dawn Primarolo: The data available to the Inland Revenue do not include information about the reasons for individual tax credits recipients moving out of work.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Andersonstown News Group

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list the (a) nature and (b) extent of the application for funding made by the Andersonstown News Group to Invest NI.

Barry Gardiner: The Andersonstown News Group approached Invest NI to request assistance for a project to publish a new national daily newspaper at an estimated investment cost of circa £3 million. The project anticipated the creation of up to 41 new jobs, 35 of which were to be based at the Group's offices in West Belfast and six in new offices to be established in Monaghan Town, in the Republic of Ireland. The company anticipated that 50 per cent. of the sales revenue would be generated in the Republic of Ireland.
	A commercial appraisal of the project has been completed by independent consultants. In line with Part II, Paragraph 13 (Third party's commercial confidences) of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, it would be inappropriate to disclose further information.

Common Funding Formula

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will make a statement on the common funding formula.

Barry Gardiner: The Department plans to consult schools on the final proposals for the Common Funding Formula over the next few months, with the aim of implementing Common Funding in April 2005.

Consultancy Contracts

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will list in respect of each Department, agency and non-departmental public body in Northern Ireland the consultancy contracts that they have entered into in each of the last three financial years, together with a statement about the purpose of each contract and its cost to public funds.

Ian Pearson: Information about all consultancy contracts entered into by Departments, agencies and non-departmental public bodies in Northern Ireland and related costs is not held centrally and could be obtained from individual bodies only at disproportionate cost. Information on consultancy contracts awarded by the Central Procurement Directorate on behalf of public bodies in Northern Ireland is held by that Directorate and a copy has been placed in the Library.

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what public consultation was undertaken in Northern Ireland by his Department in relation to the introduction in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill of non-jury trials for those unfit to stand trial; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: There are no measures in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill that provide for non-jury trials for those unfit to stand trial. However, clauses 22 and 23 of that Bill relate to pre-trial hearings on fitness to plead and will give the judge, rather than jury, the responsibility for determining fitness to plead on mental health grounds.
	Based on a recommendation of the Auld Review of the Criminal Courts, the opportunity arose through the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill to apply this valuable measure to Northern Ireland. Given the timetable of the Bill and the opportunity presented, a public consultation was not possible.

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultations took place between his Department and the Home Office in relation to the introduction in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill of non-jury trials for those unfit to stand trial in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: There are no measures in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill that provide for non-jury trials for those unfit to stand trial. However, clauses 22 and 23 of that Bill relate to pre-trial hearings on fitness to plead and will give the judge, rather than jury, the responsibility for determining fitness to plead on mental health grounds.
	My officials have been and continue to be in close contact about provisions that fall within the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill, including those which relate to non-jury pre-trial hearings on fitness to plead.
	Home Office officials have advised my officials of developments in relation to this measure and both Departments have worked closely together to keep the arrangements for Northern Ireland in line with those proposed for England and Wales and to ensure that this valuable provision is applied within Northern Ireland.

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what public consultation was undertaken in Northern Ireland by his Department in relation to the introduction of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill of restraining orders on acquittal; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: The Government's proposal to improve restraining orders and extend their availability in Northern Ireland was included in the Northern Ireland domestic violence consultation paper "Tackling Violence at Home".
	The public consultation period ran from mid October to mid December 2003 in addition to which my officials carried out 11 workshops across Northern Ireland on the proposals contained in the consultation document. The proposal to make restraining orders available on acquittal was highlighted at each of these workshops. In addition to comments made at these sessions some further 70 written consultation responses were received.
	The responses were unanimously in agreement with extending the use of restraining orders, especially for offences of violence against the person. Respondents considered that this provided extra support and protection to victims.

Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consultations took place between his Department and the Home Office in relation to the introduction in the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill of restraining orders on acquittal in Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

John Spellar: Officials from both the Home Office and Northern Ireland Office are represented on the UK-wide Domestic Violence Virtual Group which was established to shadow the Inter-Ministerial Group on Domestic Violence, of which my colleague, Angela Smith, MP (the Under-Secretary of State for Northern Ireland) is a member.
	The work of the Domestic Violence Virtual Group has consequently ensured that consultation on domestic violence issues is continuous between officials of both the Northern Ireland Office and the Home Office.
	In addition my officials continue to be in close contact with the Home Office about issues arising from and relating to the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Bill. Both Departments have been in consultation and discussion regarding the introduction of restraining orders on acquittal at each stage of the drafting and parliamentary processes.

Employer's Liability Insurance

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will assess the effects of the removal of employer's liability compulsory insurance requirements on Northern Ireland's smallest-owner-operated limited companies; and if he will make a statement.

Barry Gardiner: At national level the Department for Work and Pensions is currently reviewing the Employer's Liability Compulsory Insurance regulations (ELCI) in respect of those limited companies in the UK where the owner is the only employee. If a decision is made to remove the requirement for ELCI from limited companies in the UK where the owner is the only employee, then a formal consultation will take place in the autumn with any legislative change expected in the UK early in 2005. The Department for Enterprise, Trade and Investment will be closely involved in implementing the process.

European Parliamentary Elections

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many voters were turned away from polling stations in Northern Ireland at the recent European parliamentary elections for not having valid photographic identification.

John Spellar: 2,622 electors were originally turned away having arrived at a polling station without valid photographic identification. 1,123 of those electors subsequently returned before the close of poll with an alternative, correct form of ID and were able to cast their vote. The remainder of this total—1,499 electors—were unable to vote because of a failure to produce valid identification.
	The totals recorded are as follows.
	
		
			 Constituency Number originally turned away for invalid ID Number of these not returning 
		
		
			 Belfast East 106 69 
			 Belfast North 113 68 
			 Belfast South 92 46 
			 Belfast West 157 82 
			 East Antrim 96 57 
			 East Londonderry 143 86 
			 Fermanagh and South Tyrone 200 108 
			 Foyle 218 114 
			 Lagan Valley 93 55 
			 Mid Ulster 233 138 
			 Newry and Armagh 200 108 
			 North Antrim 224 134 
			 North Down 81 54 
			 South Antrim 124 74 
			 South Down 145 86 
			 Strangford 103 58 
			 Upper Bann 151 71 
			 West Tyrone 143 91 
			 Total 2,622 1,499

Harassment

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what precise conduct of the employee of the Department of Education in Northern Ireland found guilty in May 2001 of harassing a colleague, was deemed by the Department to have constituted the harassment; and whether this information was made known to the employee at the time the charge was levelled.

Barry Gardiner: Following a thorough and impartial investigation the individual to whom the hon. Member's question refers was found to have acted in an inappropriate manner during a meeting with a colleague that caused the individual to feel upset and intimidated.
	The specific actions that were deemed to be inappropriate conduct were:
	(a) To ignore a member of staff in a distressed condition, and
	(b) To continue with a particular line of questioning and critical personal observations.
	The person to whom the hon. Member's question refers was informed of the charge on 21 May 2001, when a formal written statement defining the disciplinary charge was issued, and subsequently on 24 February 2003 in a written response to correspondence from a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Northern Ireland.

Housing Executive Properties

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what proportion of former Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties that are retained by the initial owner but are now privately rented were rented within (a) three years, (b) five years, (c) seven years and (d) 10 years of the purchase;
	(2)  what proportion of former Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties are retained by the initial owner but are now privately rented.

John Spellar: The Housing Executive is unable to provide the information. The consultation document launched on 18 May 2004 proposing amendments to the House Sales Scheme and the extension of the statutory Right to Buy Scheme to Housing Associations tenants sets out a range of measures to encourage the retention of properties in the social rented sector.

Housing Executive Properties

Roy Beggs: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many former Northern Ireland Housing Executive properties bought initially with a discount have been resold; and of these, what proportion were resold within (a) three, (b) five, (c) seven and (d) 10 years.

John Spellar: The information is not readily available. The issue of discounts is covered in the consultation document launched on 18 May 2004 proposing amendments to the House Sales Scheme and extending the statutory Right to Buy Scheme to Housing Associations tenants.

Job Losses (Civil Servants)

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil servants in Northern Ireland, broken down by Department, he anticipates will lose their jobs as a consequence of the Comprehensive Spending Review; and how he expects frontline services will be affected.

Ian Pearson: I am committed to delivering efficiency gains for public services that at least match the 2.5 per cent. a year figure announced by the Chancellor in the SR2004 Spending Review outcome. All the money released through greater efficiency will be retained in Northern Ireland for reinvestment in priority front line services to the public. There is scope in Northern Ireland, as elsewhere, to reduce the number of posts involved in back office and related areas, so that more people and money can be reallocated to front line services.
	The detailed implications for Northern Ireland are being considered as part of our own efficiency review which is ongoing. The conclusions of this work, together with the implications for civil service posts, will be contained in our Draft Priorities and Budget, to be published in September 2004.

Lance Bombadier Restorick

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what advice about IRA operations was given by the RUC's Tasking Control Group (South) to members of the security forces before Lance Bombadier Restorick's death in January 1997;
	(2)  what measures were taken by the security forces once it became known that an IRA operation was likely in the Bessbrook area in January 1997;
	(3)  what knowledge the RUC had of future IRA operations in the Bessbrook area before the death of Lance Bombadier Restorick in January 1997.

Ian Pearson: The Police Ombudsman has agreed to investigate the issues surrounding the allegations, therefore, it would be inappropriate for me to comment further.

Public Transport (Disabled People)

Iris Robinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what estimate he has made of the cost of providing free public transport for the disabled in Northern Ireland.

John Spellar: Free travel on scheduled public transport is available to people who are registered blind and to people in receipt of a War Disablement Pension who have been assessed as being more than 20 per cent. disabled. During the financial year 2004–05 it is estimated that the cost of providing such concessions will amount to £320,000.
	In addition, free travel is available to all Northern Ireland residents aged over 65 years of age, 57 per cent. of whom consider themselves to have a limiting long-term illness. During the financial year 2004–05, I estimate that the cost of providing free travel to that proportion of older people will be around £7.8 million.
	Since 1 April 2004, half fare concessions have been available under the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme to people who:
	are in receipt of either mobility component of Disability Living Allowance;
	have had a driving licence refused or revoked for medical reasons;
	are registered with a Health and Social Services Trust as being partially sighted;
	are known to a Health and Social Services Trust as having a learning disability.
	The Department for Regional Development has estimated that the operating costs for these four groups of people for the financial year 2004–05 will be £205,000, at current fare levels. The estimated cost of changing the Concessionary Fares Scheme to provide free-fare travel, rather than half fare concessions, to these groups would be likely to cost around £500,000 per annum in addition to set-up costs.
	I therefore estimate that the cost of providing free travel on scheduled public transport to people with disabilities would be in the region of £8.62 million in the current financial year. However, there are currently no plans to further extend the Northern Ireland Concessionary Fares Scheme to provide free public transport for the four groups of people who have received half fare concessions since April 2004.

Translink

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland when Translink expects the first of its new trains to begin service.

John Spellar: The first of the new trains is expected to be introduced to passenger service in October 2004.

Ulster Volunteer Force

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  if he will recognise the Ulster Volunteer Force as a Unionist paramilitary group; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  when he will answer the question of 23 April from the hon. Member for Portsmouth South, ref 169174, about the Ulster Volunteer Force.

Ian Pearson: I am sorry for the delay in replying.
	There is no paramilitary group categorised as Unionist. The more accurate terminology is Loyalist. The Government's overall judgment is that the ceasefire of the Ulster Volunteer Force remains in place.

United States (Ministerial Representations)

David Burnside: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 
	(1)  what representations he has made to the United States Administration to prevent Sinn Fein representatives entering the USA under the provisions of the Patriot Act following the first report of the Independent Monitoring Commission in April;
	(2)  what representations he has made to the State Department in the USA to place (a) the Provisional IRA, (b) Sinn Fein and (c) the Ulster Volunteer Force on the list of designated foreign terrorist organisations following the first report of the Independent Monitoring Commission in April.

Ian Pearson: None.

DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER

Administration Fees

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much has been (a) budgeted for and (b) spent on administration fees by his Department in the last three years.

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) was created following the Machinery of Government changes on 29 May 2002. The following table shows the Office's budget and expenditure for administration costs for the financial years 2002–03 and 2003–04 and the budgets for 2004–05.
	
		£000
		
			  2002–03 1 2002–03 2 2003–04 1 2003–04 2 2004–05 1 
		
		
			 ODPM(C) 180,011 171,648 177,075 173,737 181,352 
			 Government offices 110,534 109,507 135,205 133,835 115,020 
			 Executive agencies 43,593 42,584 37,505 35,510 39,475 
			 Total 334,138 323,739 349,785 343,082 335,847 
		
	
	(16) Budget
	(17) Expenditure
	The budget figure in 2004–05 for the Government Offices is lower than in previous years, as additional work undertaken for Other Government Departments is agreed on an annual basis and the budgets transferred in year.

Arm's Length Management Organisations

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will list arm's length management organisations which have achieved 3-star status.

Keith Hill: Five arms length management organisations have achieved 3-star status. These are Ashfield Homes, Brent Housing Partnership, Carrick Housing, Derby Homes and City West Homes (Westminster).

Audit Commission

Caroline Spelman: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the (a) estimated running costs and (b) total expenditure of the Audit Commission (i) has been in each year since its creation and (ii) is expected to be in (A) 2004–05 and (B) 2005–06.

Nick Raynsford: This is an operational matter for the Audit Commission and I will ask the Chief Executive to reply.

Council Tax

Alan Hurst: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what proportion of pensioner households in England paid the full council tax in 2002–03.

Nick Raynsford: The requested information is not collected centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Council Tax

Alan Hurst: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the average council tax was in England in each year from 1993 to 2003.

Nick Raynsford: The requested information is in the table.
	
		£
		
			  Average band D area council tax Average council tax per dwelling 
		
		
			 1993–94 568 456 
			 1994–95 580 473 
			 1995–96 609 498 
			 1996–97 646 525 
			 1997–98 688 564 
			 1998–99 747 614 
			 1999–2000 798 656 
			 2000–01 847 697 
			 2001–02 901 741 
			 2002–03 976 804 
			 2003–04 1,102 908

Departmental Accounting Practice

Richard Bacon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister who the Finance Director of (a) his Office and (b) Ordnance Survey is; what accountancy qualifications each Director holds; and on how many occasions there has been a qualified opinion on (i) the resource accounts and (ii) other accounts of each in the last five years.

Phil Hope: Andrew Lean is the Finance Director for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. He is currently studying for an Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Diploma in Financial Management. The Office's first resource accounts for 2002–03 were not qualified.
	Alastair Matthews has been the Finance Director of Ordnance Survey since July 2003. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. The Ordnance Survey's Annual Accounts have been qualified on the same basis in each of the five years up to and including 31 March 2004. The qualification relates to a difference of opinion between the National Audit Office and Ordnance Survey as to whether the National Geographic Database should be capitalised on Ordnance Survey's Balance Sheet.

Departmental Annual Reports

Vincent Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many copies of his Department's, and predecessor Department's annual report were printed in each year since 1997; how many were sold in each year; and what the (a) publication costs and (b) sales revenue were.

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and its executive agencies were created on 29 May 2002. Both Annual Reports issued since this date have been published by The Stationery Office (TSO Ltd.). The number of copies they printed and sold, and the revenue they made is commercial in confidence and hence the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not know these details.
	The costs to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister—and its principal predecessor Departments—for the past four financial years are set out as follows. Given Departmental changes, the costs of publication for the years 1997–2000 could be identified only at disproportionate cost.
	The Department for Environment, Transport and Regions Annual Report cost circa £52,000 in 2000–01;
	The Department for Transport, Local Government and Regions's Annual Report cost circa £38,000 in 2001–02; and
	the first annual report for the Office of the Deputy prime Minister, publishing in May 2003, cost circa £17,000;
	the second annual report for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, publishing in April 2004, cost circa £49,000.

Departmental Travel Costs

Vincent Cable: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the travel costs were of civil servants in (a) his Department, (b) its predecessor Department and (c) its related agencies in each year since 1997.

Phil Hope: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister was formed on 29 May 2002.
	(a) The travel and subsistence costs incurred by civil servants in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in each financial year are as follows:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 2002–03 3,156,223 
			 2003–04 3,187,321 
		
	
	(b) Information for the predecessor Department could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.
	(c) In the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's three executive agencies, (i) the Fire Service College, (ii) the Planning Inspectorate and (iii) the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, travel and subsistence costs were as follows:
	(i) The Fire Service College:
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1999–2000 181,291 
			 2000–01 176,313 
			 2001–02 121,095 
			 2002–03 120,127 
			 2003–04 150,352 
		
	
	Figures for 1997–98 and 1998–99 are not readily available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	(ii) The Planning Inspectorate (figures rounded to the nearest £100,000):
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 2,200,000 
			 1998–99 1,900,000 
			 1999–2000 2,100,000 
			 2000–01 2,400,000 
			 2001–02 2,400,000 
			 2002–03 2,700,000 
			 2003–04 2,600,000 
		
	
	(iii) The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre (figures rounded to the nearest £1,000):
	
		
			  £ 
		
		
			 1997–98 39,000 
			 1998–99 39,000 
			 1999–2000 46,000 
			 2000–01 57,000 
			 2001–02 48,000 
			 2002–03 46,000 
			 2003–04 42,000 
		
	
	All travel is undertaken fully in accordance with the rules set out in the Civil Service Management Code.

East End of London (Development)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much will be spent on the development of east end areas in London in 2004–05.

Keith Hill: Through projects approved to date under the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister Thames Gateway Programme it is expected that some £40 million will be spent in the east end of London during 2004–5. This funding will help to regenerate existing communities and open up new opportunities for housing and employment.
	In addition to this there will be further investment by the Housing Corporation. I have asked, the Chief Executive, Jon Rouse to write to the hon. Member separately on this.

Homelessness

Tony Clarke: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homelessness applications have been accepted in Northampton in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: Information about English local authorities' activities under homelessness legislation is reported to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on quarterly P1E housing activity returns. The total number of decisions made and the number of these accepted as unintentionally homeless and in priority need, as reported by Northampton borough council during the past five years, is tabled as follows.
	
		Decisions taken by Northampton borough council in respect of applications by homeless households
		
			  Decisions Acceptances(18) 
		
		
			 1999–2000 1,146 369 
			 2000–01 1,120 430 
			 2001–02 849 286 
			 2002–03 1,066 414 
			 2003–04 1,028 420 
		
	
	(18) Acceptances refer to eligible households found to be unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category
	Source:
	ODPM quarterly P1E homelessness returns

Homelessness

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many homelessness applications have been accepted in Portsmouth in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: Information about English local authorities' activities under homelessness legislation is reported to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on quarterly P1E housing activity returns. The total number of decisions made and the number of these accepted as unintentionally homeless and in priority need, as reported by Portsmouth City Council during the past five years, is tabled.
	
		Decisions taken by Portsmouth City Council in respect of applications by homeless households
		
			  Decisions Acceptances (19) 
		
		
			 1999–2000 1,871 547 
			 2000–01 1,906 529 
			 2001–02 2,500 655 
			 2002–03 2,826 804 
			 2003–04 2,040 760 
			 Notes   
		
	
	(19) Acceptances refer to eligible households found to be unintentionally homeless and in a priority need category
	Source:
	ODPM quarterly P1E homelessness returns

House Prices/Incomes Ratio

James Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the house price to incomes ratio is in each region; and what plans he has to boost affordable housing investment in the South West.

Keith Hill: The latest data on property prices to earnings ratios are set out in the following table. The substantially increased funding for affordable housing announced in the Spending Review will, along with significant improvements in efficiency, provide 10,000 (50 per cent.) more social rented homes a year by 2007–08. More than 40,000 homes will also be provided in the next three years for essential public sector workers and through other low cost home ownership schemes. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is looking at how funding will be split between regions to reflect housing needs and our national housing priorities and targets.
	
		
			  Average property price(£) 1 Average annual earnings(£) 2 Ratio of property prices to earnings 
		
		
			 East of England 166,103 26,545 6.26 
			 East Midlands 117,228 22,932 5.11 
			 London 242,782 31,532 7.70 
			 North East 85,702 21,017 4.08 
			 North West 96,405 22,964 4.20 
			 South East 196,027 28,037 6.99 
			 South West 162,587 23,400 6.95 
			 West Midlands 123,313 22,879 5.39 
			 Yorkshire and  the Humber 98,109 22,304 4.40 
			 England 150,947 25,297 5.97 
		
	
	(20) January–June 2003.
	(21) April 2003.
	Sources:
	Property prices: Land Registry Earnings: Office for National Statistics, New Earnings Survey

Housing Corporation Rural Programme

James Gray: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether he plans to retain the ring-fenced rural programme of the Housing Corporation available to new starts in settlements of fewer than 3,000 people.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister current target—to provide at least 3,500 new affordable homes in communities with fewer than 3,000 people—covers the period 2004–06 (and early indications show that this is likely to be exceeded). From 2006–07 targets will be determined regionally based on advice from the Regional Housing Boards.

Housing Stock Transfers

Brian Iddon: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what evidence his Department has collated to support its conclusions that (a) it is more cost effective to improve a house when the improvements are conducted by a housing association or an arm's length management organisation rather than by a local housing authority and (b) the transfer of local authority housing stock into alternative management and/or ownership results in higher levels of tenant satisfaction.

Keith Hill: The information is as follows.
	(a) The Public Accounts Committee's 40th report: Improving Social Housing through Transfer published in July 2003 contains supplementary evidence provided by the office on the value for money of stock transfer. This assessment carried out in April 2003 used guidance in the 2003 Treasury Green Book "Appraisal and Evaluation in Central Government" which took effect on 1 April 2003. As stated in our response to ODPM: Housing, Planning, Local Government and the Regions Committee's Report on Decent Homes, evidence is also available on inspection ratings of ALMOs following their first six months of operation compared with their previous inspections as local authority managed housing departments.
	Together with the Housing Corporation, we are currently considering the most appropriate approach for future monitoring and evaluating the transfer programme, and parallel work is underway for the ALMO programme. Each monitoring/evaluation system will be tailored to the particular circumstances of each programme, but will also collect consistent data so that it is possible, in the longer term, to provide a comparative assessment of decent homes delivery, value for money, and tenant satisfaction across the different programmes.
	(b) Housemark's January 2004 report showed 79 per cent. of transfer tenants were satisfied with their landlord compared to 74 per cent. for council tenants.
	As the ALMO programme did not start until 2002, there are no reliable data available to demonstrate whether levels of participation and satisfaction are improving.

Housing Investment

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister when he expects to meet Regional Planning Guidance targets of 6,000 to 10,000 new affordable homes per year established in 2001 for the South West.

Keith Hill: Policy of the Office Deputy Prime Minister—as set out in Planning Policy Guidance Note 3—is not to set region-wide targets or quotas for affordable housing. Targets are more appropriately set at the local level as they are, necessarily, derived from local circumstances and assessments. The figures set out in Regional Planning Guidance for the South West (RPG10) are, therefore, not a target but an indicator against which the provision of affordable housing can be monitored. Better quality information than currently available is needed to assess how we are progressing against this indicator. However, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does know that we are not yet providing sufficient affordable homes. That is why the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has accepted Kate Barker's recommendation that there should be a step-change in housing supply. Over the coming months, we will be consulting on a package of proposals designed to achieve this, including the provision of independent advice to the Regions, which should improve significantly our ability to deliver and monitor the provision of affordable homes. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is also committing more resources to the delivery of affordable homes—the 2004 Spending Review will allow us to increase new social house building by 50 per cent.

Housing Investment

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the departmental expenditure limit for housing was in 2003–04.

Phil Hope: Housing programmes, including the growth areas, comprised £4.022 billion of the Office of the Deputy prime Minister's final departmental expenditure limit for 2003–04.

Housing Investment

David Drew: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to allow arm's length management organisations access to borrowing to meet the decent homes standard.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has no current plans to change the current arrangements under which local authorities carry out the borrowing necessary for their Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMOs) to meet the decent homes standard. ALMOs are unable to borrow direct because, as managers of the local authority's stock, they have no assets on which to secure a loan.

Housing Investment

Adrian Flook: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding has been made available in each of the last three years under the Supporting People programme to each of the housing authorities in Somerset.

Phil Hope: The Supporting People programme went live in April 2003. Prior to this date the Government contributed towards the administration costs of administering authorities in establishing the programme.
	For 2003–04 and 2004–05 Supporting People grants have been given for both administration and programme costs. Budgets for 2005–06 to 2007–08 have not yet been finalised. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister plans to announce individual allocations to administering authorities for 2005–06 to 2007–08 in the autumn. Supporting People grants are paid direct to county councils and unitary authorities not district authorities.
	The following table sets out the Supporting People grant funding over the last three years for each of the housing authorities in Somerset:
	
		£
		
			 Grants Bath and North East Somerset North Somerset District Somerset 
		
		
			 2002–03
			 Administration 190,412 170,885 369,694 
			 Programme — — — 
			 
			 2003–04
			 Administration 211,383 198,798 455,878 
			 Programme 4,389,642 6,437,692 21,430,845 
			 
			 2004–05
			 Allocated Administration 185,000 174,217 472,697 
			 Programme 4,299,069 6,294,582 21,133,324

Housing Investment

Adrian Flook: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) affordable homes and (b) homes for rent have been built by (i) Taunton Deane borough council and (ii) housing associations in Taunton Deane in each of the last seven years.

Keith Hill: Figures for affordable homes built are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Based on data reported by Taunton Deane council and the National House-Building Council, the number of council and registered social landlord dwellings that have been built within Taunton Deane in the last seven financial years are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   (i) Taunton Deane (ii) Registered Social Landlords 
		
		
			 1997–98 0 20 
			 1998–99 0 111 
			 1999–2000 0 79 
			 2000–01 0 44 
			 2001–02 0 34 
			 2002–03 4 51 
			 2003–04 0 23

Housing Investment

Sally Keeble: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  how many social housing units he expects to be built in the south Midlands growth area as a result of the extra finance for housing announced as part of the Government's three-year spending plans;
	(2)  what proportion of funds for affordable housing announced as part of the spending review will go to the south Midlands growth area.

Keith Hill: The additional funding provided in the Spending Review will, along with efficiency improvements, produce 10,000 extra social rented homes a year by 2007–08. Decisions have not yet been taken on how Regional Housing Pot funding for 2006–07 and 2007–08, including the additional funding for affordable housing, is split between regions. This needs to reflect the different pattern of needs across regions and the Government's national housing priorities, including development of the growth areas, and targets. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is aiming to complete this work, which raises some complex issues, by the end of the year. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will announce decisions on allocation of funding within regions next summer in the light of recommendations from Regional Housing Boards, which are due in May next year.

Housing Investment

Chris Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what funding was made available to the London Borough of Islington for each year since 1997 for housing capital work, broken down by (a) housing capital authorisation, (b) authority to use capital receipts for housing capital work, (c) authority for stock-transferred estates to undertake capital work, (d) allocations to housing associations for work within the borough, (e) authority for work to be carried out by the arm's length management organisation; and (f) what projected funding in future years is in each of these categories.

Keith Hill: The information is as follows:
	(a) is comprised of a number of different elements as shown in the following table.
	
		£000
		
			  Housing Supported Capital Expenditure(22) Major Repairs Allowance Disabled Facilities Grant Cash Incentive Scheme 
		
		
			 1997–98 12,708 — 136 2,240 
			 1998–99 17,214 — 124 1,524 
			 1999–2000 18,019 — 131 — 
			 2000–01 28,415 — 142 — 
			 2001–02 12,651 25,434 212 — 
			 2002–03 14,970 25,030 237 — 
			 2003–04 13,607 25,477 360 — 
			 2004–05 13,843 23,966 389 — 
		
	
	(22) Previously known as Annual Capital Guideline, includes private sector renewal and capital receipts initiative allocations; figures up to 2002–03 include an allowance for spending financed from the authorities' capital receipts.
	(b) As a with-debt authority, Islington were allowed to use the useable part of the capital receipts they generated for any capital purpose they saw fit, including housing capital work.
	(c) Islington received £22.69 million of Estates Renewal Challenge Fund funding after the transfer of two schemes in September 1999.
	(d) is comprised of three different elements, as detailed in the following table.
	
		£000
		
			  Approved Development Programme Starter Home Initiative Local Authority Social Housing Grant 
		
		
			 1997–98 9,130 — 9,192 
			 1998–99 14,318 — 200 
			 1999–2000 5,800 — 223 
			 2000–01 9,815 — l,048 
			 2001–02 10,313 — 2,761 
			 2002–03 24,906 597 l,541 
			 2003–04 34,187 3,183 (23)— 
			 2004–05 (24)56,696 (25)— — 
		
	
	(23) Local Authority Social Housing Grant abolished with effect from 1 April 2003.
	(24) 1997–98 to 2003–04 is spend, 2004–05 is allocation.
	(25) No figures for 2004–05 available yet.
	(e) Islington has been awarded provisional ALMO funding of £24.9 million for 2004–06. Release of this funding is conditional on the ALMO achieving at least a two star rating from the Housing Inspectorate when it is inspected later this year.
	(f) A provisional allocation of £16,273,000 has been made for 2005–2006. No other indications for projected funding in future years exist at this time.

Housing Investment

Llew Smith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to order an environmental impact assessment of the additional home construction he announced on 13 July 2004.

Keith Hill: Proposals for new housing development projects are subject to the requirements of the planning system. Decisions on the need for environmental impact assessment for such proposals will be taken at the appropriate by the relevant local planning authority in accordance with the requirements of Directive 85/337/EEC (as amended) on the effects on the environment of certain public and private project which is given effect in England by the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations (England and Wales) 1999.

Housing Investment

Tony Clarke: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many (a) affordable homes and (b) homes for rent have been built in Northampton in each of the last five years.

Keith Hill: Figures for affordable homes built and homes for rent built are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	Based on data reported by Northampton council and the National House-Building Council, the number of registered social landlord and council dwellings that have been built within Northampton in the last five financial years are shown in the following table:
	
		
			  Number 
		
		
			 1999–2000 26 
			 2000–01 51 
			 2001–02 0 
			 2002–03 0 
			 2003–04 83

Housing Investment

Doug Naysmith: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what account he will take of the information on housing in the South West in the National Housing Federation's booklet, "The Evidence Update", when making future housing investment decisions about the South West region.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister welcomes the work that the National Housing Federation (NHF) have done for their recent reports on housing needs in the South East and South West. The general picture on housing pressures and the affordability of home ownership is in line with our analysis which under-pinned discussions of funding for affordable housing in the 2004 Spending Review. Officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime will be meeting with the NHF shortly to discuss these reports.
	The NHF South West is represented on the South West Housing Body Steering Group and as such they will play a key role in the development of the region's new Regional Housing Strategy (RHS) due for publication in early 2005. The RHS will reflect all relevant evidence from a variety of sources and will form the basis for the housing body's recommendations to Minister's on the distribution of housing resources within the region.

Local Authority Building Control

David Chaytor: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will place in the Library a copy of the 2003 annual monitoring report on the costs of local authority building control functions.

Phil Hope: No. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Welsh Assembly Government carry out an annual monitoring exercise whereby local authorities in England and Wales are asked voluntarily to provide a return stating their total charges income and costs in carrying out their prescribed building control functions under the Building (Local Authority Charges) Regulations 1998, but formal 'annual monitoring reports' are not prepared. The information derived from the annual returns is primarily used for internal monitoring purposes, although it is shared with the Local Government Association (LGA). Moreover, a commitment has been given to individual local authorities and the LGA that the annual monitoring exercise will be carried out on an in-confidence basis. This arrangement is currently being reviewed in the light of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 which comes fully into force on 1 January 2005.

Market Towns Initiative (Harwich)

Ivan Henderson: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding has been spent in the Harwich constituency from the Market Towns Initiative.

Keith Hill: Expenditure in Harwich under the Market Towns Initiative for the period 2002–05 was forecast to be £288,884; actual expenditure to date stands at £254,157.
	These figures relate to investment delivered through the Regional Development Agency. The amount of additional funding and resources estimated to have been levered into Harwich to supplement market towns investment through the RDA is £1.5 million, derived from supporting partners including English Heritage (HERS fund); Countryside Agency; Sport England and Lottery.

Mobile Phone Masts

David Amess: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent representations he has received regarding the placing of mobile phone masts near schools and hospitals.

Keith Hill: The information requested could be provided only at disproportionate cost as it is not possible from the central recording systems to accurately identify all of representations received that included the issues of the placing of mobile phone masts near schools and/or near hospitals.

Multi-occupancy Housing

Mark Simmonds: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps his Department is taking to combat (a) overcrowded and (b) dangerous multi-occupancy housing.

Keith Hill: Local authorities have powers in the Housing Act 1985 to deal with overcrowded or unfit Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs). Section 352 of the Act gives local authorities powers- to require works to be carried out to render an HMO suitable for the number of occupants. In addition section 354 permits local authorities to limit the number of occupants in an HMO to the number which the authority considers it to be suitable for. A failure to comply with a direction or notice under these sections is a criminal offence. These provisions are to be replaced by new measures in the Housing Bill.
	The Bill includes provisions for a new Housing Health and Safety Rating System which will replace the current fitness standard and will enable authorities to take action to deal with health and safety hazards in all housing including HMOs. The Bill also includes provision for mandatory licensing of large HMOs, and local authorities will have powers to introduce additional licensing to tackle the smaller HMOs. In order to obtain a licence, the landlord will be required to satisfy the local authority that he, or the manager of the property, is a fit and proper person and the house is reasonably suitable for the permitted number of occupants. It will be a criminal offence to operate an HMO without a licence if it is required to be licensed or to permit such an HMO to be occupied by more persons than are permitted under the licence. In addition, local authorities will have powers to make management orders on individual HMOs that are not subject to licensing, if a tribunal agrees that it is necessary to make the order to protect the health, safety and welfare of the residents or other persons occupying properties in the vicinity.
	Under the Housing Bill, the Secretary of State and the National Assembly for Wales will have power to amend by Order the statutory overcrowding standards in Part 10 of the 1985 Act and also the provisions in Part 4 of the Bill under which local authorities may serve notices to tackle overcrowding in HMOs. I will be consulting later this year on the ways in which this power might be used.

Northern Way Growth Strategy

George Howarth: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what assessment he has made of the number of new houses need to fulfil the Northern Way growth strategy.

Keith Hill: My right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister has asked the three northern Regional Development Agencies to produce a joint plan for driving sustainable economic growth in the north and that will be published shortly. This plan will also examine the links between housing and economic growth in the north. Until we have sight of this it will be premature to speculate on the number of new houses needed to fulfil the Northern Way growth strategy.

Regional Assembly Referendums

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what (a) meetings and (b) correspondence his Department has had since 10 June with the Electoral Commission concerning the regional assembly referendums; and if he will place copies of such correspondence in the Library.

Nick Raynsford: As part of a regular series of meetings, officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister met with officials from the Department of Constitutional Affairs and the Electoral Commission on 28 June to discuss the regional assembly referendums.
	Since 10 June, officials from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and those at the Electoral Commission have continued to exchange e-mails on technical issues related to the referendums orders, notably about counting officers' fees and charges, due to changes in the number of assistance and delivery points.
	There was also a meeting and some correspondence between an official from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission on when the referendums orders should be laid and consequently the timing of the referendums. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister side of that correspondence has been placed in the Library of the House.
	In addition, I wrote to Sam Younger on 15 June, and an official from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister wrote to the Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission on 6 July, with regard to the text of the ballot paper and the explanatory material for the local government options in the forthcoming referendums. Again, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's side of that correspondence has been placed in the Library of the House.

Solar Panels

Anthony D Wright: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what plans he has to reduce the UK's carbon emissions through the introduction of a requirement in building regulations to fit solar panels to all new developments.

Phil Hope: The Building Regulations set functional requirements rather than specifying particular ways of showing compliance. This enables builders to develop their own ways of complying with the requirements, using conventional or new technologies as appropriate. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is reviewing the energy efficiency provisions in line with the commitments made in the Energy White Paper and the prospective higher standards that we aim to bring into effect in 2005 will make systems like solar panels more attractive. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister shall be announcing consultations on the proposed amendments on 21 July.

Special Advisers

Nigel Evans: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Department announced in the spending review will be of special advisers.

Phil Hope: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by my right hon. Friend the Member for Brent South (Mr. Boateng) today at column 190W.

Supporting People

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how much funding has been made available in each of the last three years under the Supporting People programme to (a) Portsmouth City Council, (b) Southampton City Council and (c) Hampshire County Council; and what the projected funding is for each of the next three years.

Phil Hope: The Supporting People programme went live in April 2003. Prior to this date the Government contributed towards the administration costs of Administering Authorities in establishing the programme. For 2003–04 and 2004–05 Supporting People grants have been given for both administration and programme costs. Budgets for 2005–06 to 2007–08 have not yet been finalised. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister plans to announce individual allocations to Administering Authorities for 2005–06 to 2007–08 in the autumn.
	
		£
		
			 Grants Portsmouth city council Southampton city council Hampshire county council 
		
		
			 2002–03
			 Administration 202,412 195,405 619,499 
			 Programme — — — 
			 
			 2003–04
			 Administration 237,195 274,415 815,418 
			 Programme 9,744,076 11,521,802 33,634,572 
			 
			 2004–05
			 Allocated administration 225,105 253,267 888,620 
			 Programme 9,570,871 11,438,573 33,506,365

Supporting People

Mike Hancock: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what research he has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated on the impact of the Supporting People programme in (i) Portsmouth and (ii) the rest of Hampshire; and if he will make a statement.

Keith Hill: The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has not commissioned any research to evaluate the impact of Supporting People in Portsmouth and Hampshire.

Surplus Land

Edward Davey: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister 
	(1)  what plans (a) he and (b) English Partnerships have to (i) publish, (ii) make available for public inspection, (iii) place in the Library and (iv) place on line with full public access English Partnership's register of surplus public sector land;
	(2)  if he will list the (a) location and (b) size in hectares of each site in the register of surplus public sector land; and what the total (i) size in hectares of all such sites and (ii) number of sites is in each Government office region.

Keith Hill: The Register of Surplus Public Sector Land has been set up to enable Government Departments and their sponsored bodies to share information about the availability of land before it is released on the open market for disposal. The Register is part of new arrangements introduced to make better use of, and to deal with the disposal of, public sector land. This followed a review by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and HM Treasury. The Register is operated by English Partnerships.
	The Register provides a mechanism for Government Bodies to ensure that public assets surplus to their individual needs can be put to effective use within the public sector and to identify suitable sites to meet their own operational requirements. It is helping to deliver the policies set out in the Governments Plan for Sustainable Communities (February 2003).
	There are no plans for the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister or English Partnerships to publish or make publicly available information about individual sites on the Register. In many cases the information provided for the Register is confidential for commercial reasons. It is for the owners of individual sites to determine if information is made publicly available.

CBRN Training

Patrick Mercer: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what training has been given to emergency services personnel in respect of coping with a potential chemical biological radiological nuclear incident.

Nick Raynsford: Primary responsibility for mass decontamination in the event of a CBRN incident has been given to the fire and rescue service, through the New Dimension programme of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The Government have provided a range of equipment to the fire and rescue service to improve its ability to cope with such an event, and are fully funding training to use this equipment.
	Every firefighter has received basic CBRN training, which is now being followed by continuance training. Training has been provided by the Fire Service College and is complemented by a range of interactive training CDs and hard copy materials. Firefighters have also joined with the other emergency services in a range of local, regional and national exercises, such as that at Bank Underground station in September 2003, and the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham in July 2004. Responsibility for training the other emergency services lies with their sponsoring departments.

Your Say Event (Sunderland)

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost of the Your Say event held in Sunderland on 30 June was; how many invitees attended; how many members of the public attended; and what the cost per member of the public was.

Nick Raynsford: The total cost of the Your Say event held in Sunderland on the 30 June was £4,400:
	45 members of the public attended, including 29 invitees.
	The cost per member of the public, including invitees, was £98.

Your Say Event (Sunderland)

Philip Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the total cost to public funds was, including publicity, of the regional hearing held at the Crowtree Leisure Centre in Sunderland on 30 June.

Nick Raynsford: The total cost to public funds was £4,400.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many alcohol-related antisocial behaviour incidents there have been since 1997.

Hazel Blears: Statistics on alcohol related antisocial behaviour are not collected. However the table shows British Crime Survey statistics (in percentages) from 1996–2003 taken from people who believe their assailants were under the influence of alcohol when they were assaulted.
	
		All violence (percentage)
		
			  Under influence of drink 
			  Yes No Don't know 
		
		
			 1996 40 53 6 
			 1998 42 48 10 
			 2000 40 50 9 
			 2001–02 47 44 9 
			 2002–03 44 45 11

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Adrian Flook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many (a) acceptable behaviour contracts and (b) antisocial behaviour orders have been issued in the Avon and Somerset police force area, broken down by basic command unit.

Hazel Blears: Data on the number of acceptable behaviour contracts agreed are not collected centrally.
	The available information is given in the table, up to 31 March 2004 (latest available), on the number of antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) issued, as notified to the Home Office, within the Avon and Somerset police force area, by local authority area. The data collected are not identifiable by basic command unit area but by the local authority area within which the prohibitions apply.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders

Alan Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) have been issued in Nottingham in the last year; and if he will list the 10 cities that have issued the most ASBOs during this period.

Hazel Blears: The available information is given in the table.
	
		Number of ASBOs issued, as notified to the Home Office by all courts, where prohibitions apply to the Nottingham city council area and to the top 11 local authority areas within England and Wales, from 1 April 2003 to 31 March 2004
		
			 Local authority area Number issued 
		
		
			 Nottingham city council 16 
			 Manchester city council 108 
			 Leeds city council 99 
			 Salford metropolitan borough council 54 
			 Oldham metropolitan borough council 37 
			 Liverpool city council 34 
			 Birmingham city council 34 
			 London borough of Camden 31 
			 Bolton metropolitan borough council 30 
			 Trafford metropolitan borough council 18 
			 Burnley borough council 18 
			 Brighton and Hove council 18

Bichard Inquiry Report

Debra Shipley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the timescale is for the implementation of each of the Bichard Report recommendations, with particular reference to (a) departments retaining records of cases not referred to the police, (b) all posts in schools being subject to the enhanced disclosure requirement, (c) head teachers and school governors receiving training to ensure that interviews reflect the importance of safeguarding children, (d) interview panels to appoint staff working in schools requiring at least one trained member and (e) the introduction of a national IT intelligence system.

David Blunkett: We are developing urgently a programme for implementing the recommendations in the Bichard Report. The Home Office is co-ordinating this programme, but it will involve all the Government Departments responsible for implementation agreeing a timetable and key milestones for the work. We are committed to achieving substantial progress across the range of recommendations by the time Sir Michael Bichard reconvenes his Inquiry in six months.
	The current criteria of eligibility for Enhanced Disclosures have been under review. Proposals for revised criteria have been the subject of consultation and the results are being analysed. The recommendation that all posts working with children and vulnerable adults, including posts in schools, should be eligible for Enhanced Disclosures is being taken forward in the context of this review. Our aim is that new criteria should be in place by the end of the year.
	Work to develop a national IT system for police intelligence is being undertaken as a key priority. It may well be two years before such a system is fully up and running. However, the work we have done with the police service to develop a strategic approach to the delivery of national IT infrastructure is already producing great progress. The Police Local Exchange (PLX) system, which indicates where forces hold intelligence on specific individuals, will be introduced as an interim solution by spring 2005. Taking into account projects such as the £500 million Airwave communication system, the new national DMA database and the investment we have put into the Criminal Records Bureau over the past three years, we have invested more than ever before. This commitment is further reinforced by the £600 million that we allocated from 2002 to the whole criminal justice IT system to improve links between the courts, policing and social services.
	The other specific recommendations referred to are the responsibility of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Education and Skills. Officials in his Department are already in discussion with the National College for School Leadership about ways in which appropriate training might be developed for head teachers and governors to enable them to reflect the importance of safeguarding children when interviewing for staff appointments. It will be necessary to consider the practical issues associated with delivering additional training to many of the approximately 22,100 head teachers and a proportion of the estimated 350,000 school governors before making a commitment to a timescale for this to happen.
	As regards handling information about cases involving known or suspected offences against children, the Department for Education and Skills will be writing to local authorities very shortly to reaffirm the existing guidance in "Working Together to Safeguard Children" and will set out how the relevant recommendations will be taken forward in the longer term.

Community Safety (Islington)

Chris Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding he has made available in each year since 1997 for anti-crime and community safety initiatives in the London borough of Islington; and what funding is projected for future years.

Hazel Blears: The Home Office has to date provided a total of £2,948,779 to the London borough of Islington for anti-crime and community safety initiatives. Funding commenced in 2000–01. In addition, a total of £732,872 has been provided to Islington police under the Basic Command Unit (BCU) Fund in 2003–04 and 2004–05. The table shows the annual breakdown for each funding stream, giving a total figure of £3,681,651. Future crime reduction funding for individual authorities will be announced in due course.
	
		Anti-crime/community safety funding in London borough of Islington from 1997 -- £
		
			 Financial year 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 Total 
		
		
			 Crime Reduction Programme (CRP) 222,227 371,809 125,500 — — 719,536 
			 Partnership Development Fund (PDF) 59,570 50,000 50,000 — — 159,570 
			 Communities Against Drugs (CAD) — 262,200 594,218 — — 856,418 
			 Safer Communities Initiative (SCI) — — 137,255 — — 137,255 
			 Small Retailers in Deprived Areas (SRDA) — 26,419 66,236 66,236 — 158,891 
			 Building Safer Communities Fund — — — 412,195 422,500 834,695 
			 Basic Command Unit (BCU) Fund — — — 366,436 366,436 732,872 
			 Home Office Directors Allocation — — — 20,000 — 20,000 
			 Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Fund — — — 22,414 25,000 47,414 
			 Vehicle Crime — — — 15,000 — 15,000 
			 Total 281,797 710,428 973,209 902,281 813,936 3,681,651

Community Sentences

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made of the general population's attitude towards (a) prisons and (b) alternatives to prison as a means of punishment and rehabilitation.

Paul Goggins: The most recent assessment was made as part of the Review of the Sentencing Framework for England and Wales "Making Punishments Work", released in July 2001. This assessment is based on a review of the literature on attitudes to sentencing as well as a survey of public attitudes (conducted in October 2000). Full details can be found in Appendix 5 to the report.
	Further information on public attitudes is also available in Home Office Research Study 245 (Improving public attitudes to the Criminal Justice System: The impact of information, Chapman et al, 2002). This includes details from a nationally representative sample on knowledge and attitudes to crime and sentencing.
	In addition, information will be available in future as a result the Crime and Justice Survey. Results from this are currently being analysed and will provide information on offending, and people's attitudes towards the Criminal Justice System and sentences.

Corporate Manslaughter Bill

Annabelle Ewing: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether the forthcoming draft Bill on Corporate Manslaughter is to extend to Scotland.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 19 July 2004
	The Government are currently developing their proposals for reforming the law on corporate manslaughter.
	We plan to issue a draft Bill before the end of the current session.

Correspondence

Gerald Kaufman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  when he will reply to the letter to him dated 24 May 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Manchester council for Community Relations;
	(2)  when he intends to reply to the letter to him dated 24 May 2004 from the right hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton with regard to Mr. N Khan Moghal.

Fiona Mactaggart: I replied to my right hon. Friend's letter on 9 July 2004 on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for the Home Department.

Diversity and Equality (Prison Service)

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what changes there have been to the name of the Prison Service's Diversity and Equality Group within the last two months; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Goggins: holding answer 16 July 2004
	The Prison Service has reviewed the role of the Diversity and Equality Group, which has led to the formation of a new Race and Equalities Action Group. The new group will have three key teams:
	Delivery Team;
	Community Links Team; and
	Policy and Programme Team.
	The change reflects the Prison Service's commitment to ensuring that significant improvements continue to be made to race and diversity issues, and that responsibilities and obligations under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, are implemented fully in every prison. The new group will take effect from 19 July 2004.

Drug Treatment

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have received drug treatment in prison in each year since 1997 as a percentage of (a) the prison population and (b) the total demand.

Paul Goggins: The information requested is as follows:
	(a) People in prison receiving drug treatment as a percentage of those received into prison annually since 2001 (the first year in which drug treatment figures were collected) is given in the following table.
	
		Percentage of the prison population that have received drug treatment since 2001 based on estimated annual receptions into custody
		
			  2001 1 2002 2003 
		
		
			 Clinical Services (Detoxification) 21 36 42 
			 CARATs 21 35 40 
			 Treatment programmes 2 3 3 
		
	
	(26) Excluding January—March 2001 from which data is not collated.
	Note:
	Population figures for 2003 are provisional
	(b) The Prison Service does not collate figures centrally on the demand for drug treatment.

Drug Treatment and Testing Orders

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug treatment and testing orders were made in Gloucestershire in the last year for which figures are available; and what the re-offending rate was for those subject to such orders (a) in Gloucestershire and (b) in England and Wales in that year.

Paul Goggins: 58 drug treatment and testing orders (DTTOs) were made in Gloucestershire in 2003–04.
	No offenders subject to DTTOs in Gloucestershire in 2003–04 had their orders revoked because of a conviction for another offence.
	Validated information about re-offending for those subject to DTTOs in England and Wales in 2003–04 is not centrally available.

Drunkenness (Prosecutions)

Alan Duncan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many people were prosecuted for buying drink for people who were incapable as a result of alcohol in 2003;
	(2)  how many people were prosecuted for allowing drunken or riotous conduct on their premises in 2003.

Hazel Blears: Statistics on court proceedings for 2003 will be published in the autumn.

Environmental Sustainability

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what have been identified as the most significant sustainable development impacts in relation to the operation of his Department's estate.

Fiona Mactaggart: The sustainable development impacts of the Department's estate varies according to the nature of the business carried out by its constituent parts. For the purposes of the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate, we have divided the Home Office estate into seven areas. These are listed as follows with the key sustainable development impacts for each area
	(i) Non Agency Home Office—Office Estate
	Key impacts: Energy consumption, waste generation, procurement of goods and services, water consumption and vehicle emissions as a result of commuting (sites outside London only).
	(ii) Immigration Removals Estate
	Key impacts: Energy consumption, waste generation, procurement of goods and services, water consumption, vehicle emissions as a result of business travel and potential to affect biodiversity.
	(iii) National Probation Service
	Key impacts: Energy consumption, waste generation, water consumption and procurement of goods and services.
	(iv) Her Majesty's Prison Service
	Key impacts: Energy consumption, waste generation (including hazardous waste), procurement of goods and services, water consumption, vehicle emissions as a result of commuting and business travel and conservation of biodiversity.
	(v) UK Passport Agency
	Key impacts: Energy consumption, waste generation, water consumption and procurement of good and services.
	(vi) Forensic Science Service
	Key impacts: Energy consumption, waste generation (including hazardous waste), procurement of goods and services, water consumption, vehicle emissions as a result of commuting.
	(vii) Contracted Out Prisons
	Key impacts: Energy consumption, waste generation, procurement of goods and services, water consumption, vehicle emissions as a result of business travel and potential to affect biodiversity.

Facilitation Charge

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times the charge of facilitation has been used since 1997, broken down by (a) police force and (b) year.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 14 July 2004
	The term 'facilitation' is not one that is used in connection with recorded crime.

Fraud Crimes

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the percentage of fraud crimes perpetrated against elderly people in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Hazel Blears: No estimates have been made of fraud crime against the elderly. Statistics on fraud and forgery offences recorded by the police in England and Wales are published annually in "Crime in England and Wales". The latest volume covering 2003–04 is due to be published on 22 July.

National Offender Management Service

Julie Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated cost is of future market test under the National Offender Management Service.

Paul Goggins: It has not yet been decided how many or which prisons will be market tested in the first year. Work is under way to decide how the competition will be structured and what criteria will be used to select prisons to be market tested.

Offender Behaviour Programmes

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the estimated developmental cost has been of each accredited offender behaviour programme.

Paul Goggins: It is not possible to provide the information in the form requested. Accredited offender behaviour programmes have a number of sources. Some are adaptations of programmes developed overseas, some have been developed by the independent and voluntary sectors, some began as local initiatives and others have been developed centrally by the Prison and Probation Services.
	The costs are, therefore, varied. We estimate, for example, that the cost of adapting and piloting the existing Think First programme was £50,000, while developing the Women's Acquisitive Crime Programme from scratch, including the costs of piloting and accreditation, was in the region of £115,000.

Police (Jury Service)

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what representations he received prior to the inclusion in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 of the provision that police officers would no longer be exempt from jury service.

Hazel Blears: The Government consulted on the new jury service provisions contained in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 as part of the wider consultation on Lord Justice Auld's Review on the Criminal Courts of England and Wales.
	The Department for Constitutional Affairs also consulted on the guidance that was issued to the Jury Central Summoning Bureau prior to the commencement of these provisions.

Deepcut Investigation

Kevin McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment has been made by the Devon and Cornwall police of the number of potential witnesses (a) contacted and (b) interviewed by the Ministry of Defence's police detective constables in the course of their involvement in the Deepcut investigation.

Hazel Blears: I am not currently able to provide the information requested. Surrey police have advised that they commissioned Devon and Cornwall police to undertake a review into the Surrey police investigation into the deaths of four young soldiers at Deepcut barracks but this has not yet been completed. It is understood that the review will consider the use made by Surrey police of Ministry of Defence police detective constables during the course of the investigation. It will be for Devon and Cornwall police to consider whether an assessment of the numbers of potential witnesses contacted or interviewed by the Ministry of Defence police detective constables is needed as part of the review.

Police Pensions

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of each police authority budget in England and Wales was spent on pensions in (a) 1997–98 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available.

Hazel Blears: holding answer 16 July 2004
	The information is set out in the table.
	
		Proportion of net expenditure spent on pensions  -- Percentage
		
			  1997–98 2003–04 
		
		
			 Avon and Somerset 15.6 16.7 
			 Bedfordshire 11.5 11.8 
			 Cambridgeshire 11.9 12.9 
			 Cheshire 11.1 12.6 
			 City of London 12.7 16.0 
			 Cleveland 10.9 15.8 
			 Cumbria 12.8 15.8 
			 Derbyshire 12.8 13.0 
			 Devon and Cornwall 13.5 14.0 
			 Dorset 13.0 13.2 
			 Durham 16.5 13.6 
			 Dyfed-Powys 12.0 13.5 
			 Essex 10.6 14.0 
			 Gloucestershire 13.2 14.6 
			 Greater Manchester 16.5 14.1 
			 Gwent 11.6 14.4 
			 Hampshire 9.6 12.4 
			 Hertfordshire 9.5 10.8 
			 Humberside 13.2 13.7 
			 Kent 11.3 13.2 
			 Lancashire 14.2 14.9 
			 Leicestershire 11.9 12.1 
			 Lincolnshire 13.8 15.7 
			 Merseyside 14.9 17.8 
			 Metropolitan 11.4 12.2 
			 Norfolk 13.2 12.8 
			 Northamptonshire 12.4 9.0 
			 Northumbria 15.4 15.5 
			 North Wales 13.6 14.7 
			 North Yorkshire 14.5 13.9 
			 Nottinghamshire 13.7 16.7 
			 South Wales 17.6 16.1 
			 South Yorkshire 12.1 13.1 
			 Staffordshire 17.3 14.4 
			 Suffolk 13.3 14.5 
			 Surrey 13.7 10.3 
			 Sussex 13.3 14.6 
			 Thames Valley 9.8 9.8 
			 Warwickshire 13.9 16.4 
			 West Mercia 11.0 13.4 
			 West Midlands 12.2 12.5 
			 West Yorkshire 13.0 15.6 
			 Wiltshire 10.4 12.5 
		
	
	Note:
	Leicestershire's 1997–98 figures were not available in the CIPFA Actuals 1997–98. The force estimates have therefore been used.
	Source:
	Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy Police Statistics—Actuals 1997–98 and Estimates 2003–04.

Police Sickness

Mike Wood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which police forces in England operate sickness reduction schemes; and what change has been recorded in sickness levels since their introduction.

Hazel Blears: All police forces have been set the objective of reducing sickness absence levels.
	The Strategy for a Healthy Police, which was launched in October 2002 supports this objective through funding, guidance and best practice in managing sickness absence and attendance.
	All forces in England and Wales were allocated a share of £4 million in 2002–03, and then £5 million in 2003–04 and the current financial year. They have been able to focus this extra resource on projects aimed at reducing sickness absence.
	Sickness absence figures have improved since the launch of the Strategy, with overall sickness absence now at a national average of 10.4 days per officer per year, and 11.7 per support staff member. This has decreased from 12.2 days per officer and 12.6 days per support staff member when the Strategy was launched. The best performing forces have continued to make improvements, but the gap between best and worst performers has also significantly narrowed.
	The Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary annual report for 2003/2004 sets out the national and force rates for sickness absence per force.

Prison Service

Helen Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many qualified craftsmen were employed by the Prison Service in each prison in each of the last five years; and how many of these were in the prison officer grades.

Paul Goggins: The Prison Service does not currently collect data on the qualifications held by its employees. Craftsmen are a sub-grade of industrial staff. While data are available on overall staffing levels within the industrial grades, specific data on the number of craftsmen employed are not collected centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Prison Service

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the levels of prison front-line staff have changed since 1997.

Paul Goggins: Since 1997 the number of staff in front line and delivery support functions has increased by 6164 (19 per cent.).
	During this period, the Prison Service has introduced a number of measures to improve overall efficiency, including identifying a number of tasks within establishments previously undertaken by Prison Officers that can more efficiently be undertaken by Operational Support Grade staff. A programme has also been implemented to use industrial grade staff to undertake activities within works departments, which had previously been undertaken by specialist officers. As a result, Prison Officer numbers have not increased as much as overall staffing increases.
	Staffing levels in the healthcare and psychology functional areas have increased at a higher rate than the growth in the prisoner population.

Prison Service

Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  pursuant to the answer of 8 June 2004, Official Report, column 330W, on offender management, when decisions will be made as to how many prisons will be market-tested in the first year; and how the competitions will be structured;
	(2)  what criteria will be used for selecting which establishments to market test.

Paul Goggins: It has not yet been decided how many or which prisons will be market tested in the first year. Work is under way to decide how the competition will be structured and what criteria will be used to select prisons to be market tested.

Probationary Police Constables

Vincent Cable: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate he has made of the average annual cost of employing, training and developing a probationary police constable in the last year for which figures are available.

Hazel Blears: Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary have estimated that the average salary, training and development costs of a probationary police constable up to independent patrol (which is normally 31 weeks after joining a force) in 2003–04 were £27,048. This figure includes salary costs of £13,993 per probationary police constable for that period and training and development costs of £13,055.
	There are of course, associated employment costs for recruitment, supervision, accommodation, information technology and so on. However, these are not collated centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Racial Equality

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total cost was of (a) publishing, (b) producing and (c) distributing the Racial Equality and the Smaller Business guide produced by the Commission for Racial Equality.

Fiona Mactaggart: HSBC sponsored the production of the guide and paid for the production of 100,000 CDs. The Post Office distributed it free of charge to small businesses. In addition, 44,417 PDF versions of the guide have been downloaded from the Commission for Racial Equality's website and 2,792 copies have been ordered from the stationary office. The Commission for Racial Equality paid for the Welsh version (£4,506). The only other cost to them was staff time.

Racial Equality

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which other Government Departments were involved in producing the Racial Equality and the Smaller Business guide produced by the Commission for Racial Equality.

Fiona Mactaggart: The Department of Trade and Industry was the only other Government Department represented on the Commission for Racial Equality's advisory group.

Street Crime (London)

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers in the London area work specifically in tackling street crime.

Hazel Blears: Information on the number of police officers specifically tackling street crime is not collected centrally.
	Statistics on police strength are published every six months. Data for 30 September 2003 appeared in on-line report number 13/04. The latest available figures for 31 December 2003 were issued in Home Office Press Release 095/2004 on 2 March 2004.

Victims' Code of Practice

Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what consideration is being given to the inclusion of road crash and road crime victims in the Victims' Code of Practice.

Paul Goggins: The Victims' Code of Practice, provided for in the Domestic Violence Crime and Victims Bill currently before Parliament, will place national obligations on criminal justice agencies to deliver specific services to victims of crime. Those bereaved as a result of death on the road will be entitled to the relevant police obligations and, where a charge is considered or brought, the relevant Crown Prosecution Service and courts' obligations. They will not, at present, be entitled routinely to the Code's personal support services, to be offered by Victim Support, as practice in this area is still being determined.
	Last year, at a cost of some £500,000, we established three pilot sites to test different ways of organising and delivering services to road traffic victims. These pilots are subject to independent evaluation with a full report on their effectiveness envisaged for Summer 2005. Following this, we will need to consider, with voluntary sector partners and others, the key outcomes from the evaluation programme and how we can best implement a support service to address the needs of all those victimised by incidents on the road.
	The victims' legislation clearly sets out the procedures for making revisions to the Code of Practice and it is likely that, because it is statutory, there will be regular updates to reflect front line developments. So if, as seems likely, it is not possible to include obligations to provide personal support services for road traffic victims in the initial version of the Code, which is likely to become fully operational during 2005, then we should be in a position to do so when it is revised for the first time.

Witness Protection

David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the amount of police time allocated to supervising witness protection schemes.

Hazel Blears: This information is not currently available. The Home Office, in conjunction with the Scottish Executive, the Northern Ireland Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers, has appointed an independent consultant to carry out an assessment of witness protection arrangements nationally. The assessment is covering all cases where witness protection is afforded by UK law enforcement agencies including the police. It will provide us with valuable information about the numbers and circumstances in which witness protection is provided and the amount of police time allocated to it.
	The assessment commenced on 2 January; it was announced in the White Paper 'One Step Ahead—a 21st century strategy to defeat organised crime' which I published on 29 March. The assessment is due to be completed over the summer, and a final report will be available in the autumn.

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  whether it remains his policy to acquire two British-built new aircraft carriers; and by what dates;
	(2)  what assessment his Department has made of the suitability of United States carriers to carry out each of the projected CVF tasks if purchased by the Royal Navy;
	(3)  what discussions his Department has held with United States counterparts concerning the possible purchase of US carriers for the Royal Navy.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 5 July 2004
	We remain fully committed to buying two new aircraft carriers for the Royal Navy. There has been no change to our policy that Royal Navy warship hulls will be built in the United Kingdom. Given this position, we have not considered the possible purchase of United States carriers, nor have we therefore assessed the suitability of United States carriers to undertake projected CVF tasks. However, the Department regularly exchanges information with the US on our respective programmes, for example in areas such as the integration of the Joint Combat Aircraft. Our target in-service dates for the two carriers remain 2012 and 2015.

Aircraft Carriers

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his estimate is of the minimum (a) tonnage and (b) aircraft numbers to be operated from each future carrier to enable it to fulfil its strategic expeditionary role.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 5 July 2004
	The Ministry of Defence has not sought to fix the dimensions of the aircraft carriers during the assessment phase. The design of the ships will continue to evolve as we seek to balance the overall performance, time and cost parameters of this complex project as part of normal assessment phase activity. Decisions on the capability to be provided by CVF, including the number of aircraft capable of being deployed, and hence on the design and dimensions for the ships, will be taken at the Main Gate investment point.

Iraq Medal

Peter Luff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many soldiers (a) are eligible for and (b) have received the Iraq Campaign Medal.

Ivor Caplin: It is estimated that 70,000 Service and civilian personnel are eligible for the Iraq Medal. As at 9 July, the Army Medal Office had received 18,728 applications for the Iraq Medal from Army personnel. Of these, some 1,600 applications have been approved and the majority of those medals have been issued.

Combat/Operational Clothing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether appeal procedures apply to the contract for combat and operational clothing supplies DC4BESL/1002 Cut and Sew.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 15 July 2004
	There is no formal appeals procedure applicable to this contract.

Combat/Operational Clothing

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence where the bleaching, dyeing and printing of the fabric for the contract DC4BESL/1002 Cut and Sew will be carried out.

Adam Ingram: Due to the variety of products being supplied under this contract there are a number of locations chosen by the Prime Contractor for the bleaching, dyeing and printing of fabric, including China, the United Kingdom and mainland Europe.

Commercial Exportation Levy

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 10 June 2004, Official Report, column 589W, on the Commercial Exportation Levy, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the change in the value of receipts collected; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: Commercial Exploitation Levy is a form of royalty for any commercial sales of a design, use of special tooling or the granting of licences where the MOD has contributed wholly, or in part, to research and development costs. The level of receipts will consequently vary according to the levy arrangements agreed, the type of equipment involved (including software), the volume of sales and the extent to which its development was funded by the Ministry of Defence. From year to year the receipts generated for the MOD also depend upon the level of commercial sales achieved.

Defence Conferences

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentations made to the IQPC Conference Future Artillery in May 2003 on (a) Developing the UK's Firepower Capability by Colonel Peter H.Tomlinson, Deputy Director Equipment Capability (Indirect Battlefield Engagement) and (b) Future Artillery Weapons Systems—An Acquisition Angle by Alan Nicholl, Integrated Project Team Leader, Future Artillery Weapons Systems, Defence Procurement Agency;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentations made to the IQPC Conference Underwater Warfare and the Role of UUVS in January 2003 on Maritime Mine Countermeasures (MCM): A UK Perspective by Peter Evans, Technical Manager, Maritime Mine Warfare and Countermeasures, DSTL;
	(3)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Suppression of Enemy Air Defences in February 2003 on SEAD in Current and Future RAF Operations by Squadron Leader Brian James, Tactical Division Weapons, Air Warfare Centre, Royal Air Force Squadron Leader and Stuart F. Hulley, SO2 EW Tornado, Royal Air Force;
	(4)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Software Defined Radios in December 2003 on UK Digitisation: The Future Application of SDR by Colonel Phil Davies, Command Support Development Centre;
	(5)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentations made to the IQPC Conference Sensor-to-Shooter and Time Critical Targeting in February 2003 on (a) Sensor-To-Shooter: The Users Perspective by Squadron Leader Malcolm Rainier, SO2 Air Offensive 2 and (b) UK Sensor-To-Shooter Airborne Capabilities and Concepts by Squadron Leader Dheeraj Bhasin, TD-JAGUAR, Air Warfare Centre, RAF Waddington;
	(6)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentations made to the IQPC Conference Naval Air Warfare in December 2003 on (a) The Future of Maritime Strike in the Royal Navy by Captain David James, DACOS Strike, Commander-in-Chief Fleet Staff, Royal Navy, (b) UAVS in Future Maritime Operations by Lieutenant Trevor Steele, UAV TD, Maritime Warfare Centre, Royal Navy, (c) The 'Future Lynx': The UK's Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft by Lieutenant Commander Neal Yates MBE, Requirements Manager-Surface Combatant Maritime Rotorcraft, DPA, (d) Royal Navy Commando Sea King by Lieutenant Commander Mark 'H' Hourigan, Commando Aviation TD, Maritime Warfare Centre, Royal Navy, (e) Royal Navy Merlin HM MK1 by Lieutenant Commander Gary Soar, Merlin TD, Maritime Warfare Centre, Royal Navy, (f) Integrating the JSF into the UK: The Future Joint Combat Aircraft by Wing Commander John Chapman, Requirements Manager, Joint Combat Aircraft IPT, DPA and (g) Maritime Patrol and the Future of Nimrod MRA4 Operations by Wing Commander Gordon Bruce, SO1 Maritime Capability Development, HQ3 Group, Royal Air Force;
	(7)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Military Flight Training Conference in February 2003 on (a) The Future UK Military Flight Training Programme by Air Commodore Peter Coker, MFTS IPT Leader, Defence Procurement Agency, (b) Nimrod-Multi-Crew Training in a Multirole Aircraft by Wing Commander Jerry Kessell, OC 42 (R) Squadron, RAF Kinloss, (c) C-130J Hercules Tactical Training by Group Captain Ray Lock, Commanding Officer and Squadron Leader Mark Pearce, Flight Commander JTTF, RAF Lynham and (d) Future Helicopter Flying Training in the British Army by Lieutenant Colonel David Joyce, SO1 Training and Lieutenant Colonel Norman Ryan, SO1 Attack Helicopter Training, HQ Directorate of Army Aviation;
	(8)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Light Armoured Vehicles in February 2003 on (a) UK MoD Overview of Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) and key UK LAV programmes by Brigadier Ian Rodley, DEC (DBE), (b) Future Command and Liaison Vehicle (FCLV)-An Overview by Colonel Charles Hookey, Team Leader, Close Armour and Vehicle Mounted Weapons IPT, DPA, (c) The Bigger Picture—A UK military analysis of the future operating environment, emerging concepts and the shift of emphasis from platform performance to network effectiveness by Brigadier Geoff Sheldon, Director Land Digitisation, UK MoD (Army), (d) Future Force Structures—A UK MoD view by Lieutenant Colonel Crispian Beattie, SO1 Concepts, Director General Doctrine and Development and (e) Viking—An Overview by Major Jez Hermer, SO2 Viking, FLEET N7, HMS Excellent;
	(9)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Military Helicopter Conference in April 2003 on (a) New Developments in Air Manoeuvre Capability by Brigadier Nick Caplin, Deputy Commander and Chief of Staff, Joint Helicopter Command, (b) Future Modernisation of the UK Apache A.H.1 by Major Nigel Banks, Attack Helicopter Desk Officer, DEC Air and Littoral Manoeuvre, (c) Royal Navy Lynx HMA.8 and Future Development by Lieutenant Rob Taylor, Senior Observer, Lynx OEU, RNAS Yeovilton and (d) Merlin H.M. MK.1 by Lieutenant Commander Nick Dunn, Commanding Officer, 814 Squadron, RNAS Culdrose;
	(10)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Future Naval Plans and Requirements in May 2003 on (a) The Future of Maritime Strike in the Royal Navy by Commander David James, CD Strike, Maritime Warfare Centre, (b) The Royal Navy—Future Operational Concepts by Captain Simon Williams, Assistant Director of Strategy, (c) Maritime Combat Service Support To Forces Ashore by Brigadier Charlie Hobson, Director Equipment Capability (Deploy, Sustain and Recover) and The Future Surface Combatant and its Role as a Versatile Maritime Force by Commander Stuart Robinson, Project Leader, Future Surface Combatant and Chris Richards, Capability Definition and Programme Management (FSC), DEC (AWB);
	(11)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Fighter Conference in May 2003 on (a) Joint Force Harrier by Lieutenant Commander Nick Walker, Joint Force Harrier SO2 OPS FA2, HQ 3 Group, RAF Strike Command and (b) Typhoon Programme Update by Wing Commander Jonathan Hitchcock, Typhoon Requirements Manager (and Future Commander of the Typhoon OCU) Typhoon IPT;
	(12)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Defence Simulation and Training in October 2003 on (a) A UK Overview of Training Systems by Andy Fawkes, Deputy Director, Analysis, Experimentation and Simulation, and Head of Synthetic Environments Co-ordination Office, (b) Bringing Coherence To MoD Individual Training and Education by Commander Jim Hammersley, DGT and E, (c) The Long-Term Future of Individual Armoured Fighting Vehicle Training in the UK by Lieutenant Colonel K B L (Kestrel) Simson QRH Deputy Project Manager, Armoured Vehicle Training System Project, DPA, (d) Simulation Requirements Analysis by Lieutenant Commander Harry Hassall, Development Projects and Research Group, UK MoD, and (e) UK Battlegroup Command and Control Trainer (BC2T) by Paul Newman, Deputy Team Leader, Joint and Battlefield Trainers, Simulation and Synthetic Environments, Programme Manager for Joint and Constructive Simulation DPA;
	(13)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Air-Launched Weapons in September 2003 on (a) UK Air-Launched Weapons Capabilities and Concepts by Squadron Leader Dheeraj Bhasin, TD-JAGUAR, Air Warfare Centre, RAF Waddington, (b) Advanced Short-Range Air-To-Air Missile (ASRAAM) by Lieutenant Colonel Richard G Dixon, ASRAAM IPT Leader, Defence Procurement Agency, (c) Beyond Visual Range Air-To-Air Missile (BVRAAM)-METEOR by Mike Smith, BVRAAM IPT Leader, Defence Procurement Agency, and (d) Update On UK Precision-Guided Bomb by Wing Commander Peter Barker, Precision-Guided Bomb IPT Leader, Defence Procurement Agency;
	(14)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Air Surveillance and Reconnaissance in March 2003 on (a) Watchkeeper by Alan Baker, Tactical UAV IPT Leader, DPA, (b) Littoral ISTAR-UK Perspective by Squadron Leader Alan Skinner, HQ3 Group, RAF Strike Command and (c) Operational Tactical Reconnaissance by Squadron Leader Andrew White, OC Wing, Reconnaissance Intelligence Centre, RAF Marham;
	(15)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the presentation made to the IQPC Conference Air Defence Systems 2003 in May 2003 on (a) UK GBAD future requirements by Air Commodore Richard Moore, GBAD IPTL, DPA and (b) UK GBAD-Bridging capability and future requirements by Squadron Leader David Watkins, SO2 GBAD/OPS, RAF Strike Command and Squadron Leader John Derbyshire, XO RAF GBAD HQ;
	(16)  if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) Brigadier Andrew Stewart's presentation, Support to reflect the extended scope of operations and the more strategically responsive, yet dominant force for the 21st Century, given at the SMI Conference Supporting Forward Deployment on 18 June 2003, (b) Colonel Nick Knudsen's presentation on Supporting Future Air Manoeuvre Forward Deployment given at the SMI Conference Supporting Forward Deployment on 18 June 2003, (c) Peter Jones's presentation, Processes to ensure effective medical support, given at the SMI Conference Supporting Forward Deployment on 18 June 2003, (d) Colonel Phil Naylor's presentation on Base Logistic Support to Deployed Operations, given at the SMI Conference Supporting Forward Deployment on 19th June 2003, (e) Wing Commander Simon Ruddock-West's presentation on Maritime Patrol Aircraft In Force Protection and his key note address given at the SMI Conference Naval Force Protection on 25 and 26 June 2003 respectively;
	(17)  if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) Commander Dickie Burston's presentation, Multi-National Submarine Rescue, given at the SMI Conference Underwater Systems on 2 April 2003, (b) Peter Evans's presentation Maritime Mine Countermeasures, given at the SMI Conference Underwater Systems on 3 April 2003, (c) Colonel David Hargreave's presentation, Paving The Way for Digitization: Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps, given at the SMI Conference Joint Battlespace Digitization on 19 May 2003, (d) Lieutenant Colonel Mark Faulkner's presentation on the UK Land Digitization Programme given at the SMI Conference Joint Battlespace Digitization on 19 May 2003 and (e) Major Jeremy Levine's presentation, The Challenges of Digitization in the Jungle, given at the SMI Conference Joint Battlespace Digitization on 19 May 2003;
	(18)  if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) Colonel Toby Mills's presentation, Transforming Engineering and Asset Management in the UK MoD: the DLO change programme given at the SMI Conference Defence Maintenance on 10 March 2003, (b) Wing Commander David Appleton's presentation, RCM: Intelligently deciding the user's maintenance requirements given at the SMI Conference Defence Maintenance on 10 March 2003, (c) Andy Worrall's presentation, Integrated Logistics Support: Reducing whole life cost of ownership given at the SMI Conference Defence Maintenance on 10 March 2003, (d) Group Captain Peter Gray's presentation, Implementing Joint Capabilities: Organising British Joint Rapid Reaction Forces, given at the SMI Conference Rapid Reaction Deployment on 12th March 2003 and (e) Colonel Neil Baverstock's presentation, A Joint Perspective, given at the SMI Conference Naval C4I on 24 March 2003;
	(19)  if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) Lieutenant Colonel Alistair Hamer-Philip's presentation, Low Level Ground Based Air Defence: a UK perspective, given at the SMI Conference Air Defence Systems on 16 January 2003; (b) Neil McCabe's presentation, The UK experience: Bringing mission rehearsal requirements and solutions together given at the SMI Conference Virtual Battlespace: Developments in Mission Rehearsal on 27 January 2003, (c) Neil McCabe's presentation on Training AFV (Armoured Fighting Vehicles) given at the SMI Conference Armour and Anti-Armour on 25 February 2003, (d) Lieutenant Colonel R. J. Laidler's presentation on the future of armour support given at the SMI Conference Armour and Anti-Armour on 25 February 2003 and (e) Squadron Leader Gary Morgan's presentation, Nimrod MRA4: Its role in littoral warfare and future capability given at the SMI Conference Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance on 4th March 2003.

Adam Ingram: Copies of presentations given to external conferences by Ministry of Defence employees or members of the Armed Forces are not held centrally. Where it is readily available within the Department, I am placing the information requested in the Library of the House. This covers the following presentations:
	
		
			 PQ Presentation 
		
		
			 170381 Developing the UK's Firepower Capability by Colonel Peter H. Tomlinson 
			 170381 Future Artillery Weapons Systems—An Acquisition Angle by Alan Nicholl 
			 170387 The Future UK Military Flight Training Programme by Air Commodore Peter Coker 
			 170387 Nimrod-Multi-Crew Training in a Multirole Aircraft by Wing Commander Jerry Kessell 
			 170387 C-130J Hercules Tactical Training by Group Captain Ray Lock 
			 170387 Future Helicopter Flying Training in the British Army by Lieutenant Colonel David Joyce 
			 170387 Future Helicopter Flying Training in the British Army by Lieutenant Colonel Norman Ryan 
			 170389 Future Modernisation of the UK Apache A.H.I by Major Nigel Banks 
			 170389 New Developments in Air Manoeuvre Capability by Brigadier Nick Caplin 
			 170390 Maritime Combat Service Support To Forces Ashore by Brigadier Charlie Hobson 
			 170390 The Future Surface Combatant and its Role as a Versatile Maritime Force by Commander Stuart Robinson 
			 170392 A UK Overview of Training Systems by Andy Fawkes 
			 170392 Bringing Coherence To MoD Individual Training and Education by Commander Jim Hammersley 
			 170392 Simulation Requirements Analysis by Lieutenant Commander Harry Hassall 
			 170392 UK Battlegroup Command and Control Trainer (BC2T) by Paul Newman 
			 170393 Advanced Short-Range Air-To-Air Missile (ASRAAM) by Lieutenant Colonel Richard G Dixon 
			 170393 Beyond Visual Range Air-To-Air Missile (BVRAAM)-METEOR by Mike Smith 
			 170426 Lieutenant Colonel Mark Faulkner's presentation on the UK Land Digitization Programme 
			 170427 Andy Worrall's presentation, Integrated Logistics Support: Reducing whole life cost of ownership 
			 170428 Lieutenant Colonel Alistair Hamer-Philip's presentation, Low Level Ground Based Air Defence: a UK perspective 
		
	
	The following presentations were either not in fact given at the conferences specified or have since been deleted by the presenters and are therefore now unobtainable.
	
		
			 PQ Presentation 
		
		
			 170386 Royal Navy Merlin HM MK1 by Lieutenant Commander Gary Soar 
			 170388 UK MoD Overview of Future Rapid Effects System (FRES) and key UK LAV programmes by Brigadier Ian Rodley 
			 170392 The Long-Term Future of Individual Armoured Fighting Vehicle Training in the UK by Lieutenant Colonel K B L (Kestrel) Simson 
			 170393 Update On UK Precision-Guided Bomb by Wing Commander Peter Barker 
			 170396 Wing Commander Simon Ruddock- West's presentation on Maritime Patrol Aircraft In Force Protection and his key note address given at the SMI Conference Naval Force Protection on 25 and 26 June 2003 respectively. 
			 170426 Commander Dickie Burston's presentation, Multi-National Submarine Rescue 
			 170426 Colonel David Hargreave's presentation, Paving The Way for Digitization: Allied Command Europe Rapid Reaction Corps 
		
	
	The Ministry of Defence is conducting a further trawl to locate the remaining presentations. These will be placed in the Library of the House subject to availability and resource constraints. Should it not be possible to provide all the information requested, copies of conference proceedings can usually be bought from the event organisers.
	The content of these presentations will not have been specifically cleared with MOD Ministers and may therefore represent the views of the individual rather than that of the Department. It should also be noted that some of the content of these presentations is likely to have been overtaken by subsequent events.

Defence Projects (US Funding)

Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which defence-related projects in the UK are supported by (a) the US Defense Advanced Projects Agency and (b) the US Office for Naval Research; what funding is being made available in each case; and what the actual or intended benefit to the UK is in each case.

Adam Ingram: In keeping with our strong defence relationship with the United States of America, the United Kingdom works closely with the US Government on a range of defence projects and has dealings with both the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research.
	Currently the Office of Naval Research is involved in collaborative programmes with the UK on anti-submarine warfare and unmanned underwater vehicle technologies. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency does not currently lead any of the collaborative programmes with the UK but may contribute indirectly through projects led by one of the US Armed Services.
	These collaborative links are to our mutual benefit, enhancing the military capabilities of both our nations and improving our ability to operate alongside one another. Typically, such collaborative activities involve both parties pooling the outputs of respective national defence research activities, on an equitable basis.
	It is unusual for the US Government to directly support or fund UK defence projects. The US does contract directly with UK companies and academia in support of their own defence programmes, but details of these contracts are a matter for the US Government.

End-to-end Review

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the outcome of the end to end review.

Adam Ingram: The original End to End Study reported its findings on 1 July 2003, leading to a six-month Demonstration Phase which has been a notable success. Many of the principles and recommendations put forward by the End to End Final Report have been proven through the pilot activities conducted thus far. It is the intention; therefore, to focus future activity on implementation and the early realisation of benefit.
	As an example, the cost of delivering the first wave of End to End was far outweighed by the year-on-year savings. The MOD has invested £18 million in this programme over the last 15 months. End to End Demonstration has identified efficiency benefit of between £16 million to £19 million per annum and identification of realisable benefit of around £330 million. Potential exists for additional benefit, whilst at the same time preserving and in many cases improving, operational effectiveness.
	The quick wins achieved by the End to End Programme and the ongoing and extremely successful DLO Change Programme, have been the catalysts for the launch of a defence-wide programme of logistics transformation.

Haiti

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what support the UK has provided to the Brazilian and other UN forces in Haiti.

Bill Rammell: I have been asked to reply.
	The UK supports the work of the United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and welcomes the work of the troops from Brazil, Canada and Chile, operating under Force Commander Lt. Gen. Heleno Ribeiro Pereira of Brazil. The UK is pleased that additional contingents from Argentina, Uruguay, Nepal and Sri Lanka and Peru should be deployed by the end of July.
	The UK is not currently providing personnel contributions to Haiti as we have strong and emerging commitments elsewhere—particularly in Africa. We will be contributing an estimated £8.9 million in assessed contributions until October 2004. This contribution will support the UN troops in Haiti as well as other UN work set out in resolution 1542 (2004). Our financial support will continue beyond October, but the levels are dependent on operational needs which are not fully known as yet.
	In addition to financial support for the forces in Haiti, the UK has contributed to related work. The Department for International Development (DfID) sent £1.9 million in bilateral support to Haiti to address civilian unrest. DfID also responded to the flooding in Haiti, sending £250,000 to the World Food Programme (UN Programme), £150,000 to Save the Children and £109,400 to Action Aid.
	The UK also has a continued interest in raising the standard of peacekeeping. The UK funds world-wide 'train the trainer' programmes to support countries in developing their peacekeeping capacity. These focus on police training, but some of the personnel in Haiti may have benefited from this.

Hearing Loss (Veterans)

Candy Atherton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research he has conducted on the comparative levels of hearing loss suffered by (a) those suffering from age-related hearing loss and (b) veterans suffering from hearing loss which is both age-related and attributable to wartime noise.

Ivor Caplin: Neither the Ministry of Defence, which is now responsible for veterans' matters, nor the former Department of Social Security, has commissioned research on this specific comparison. However, we recognise that, particularly in the past, noise injury arising from service in the Armed Forces has been a significant contributor to hearing loss among service personnel. The Government have therefore taken a close interest in the medical understanding of the causes of and prognosis for hearing loss, including instigating the 1997 Caiman review. The current scientific understanding of noise-induced sensorineural hearing loss is that it does not get worse on removal from the noise giving rise to the injury and that, in the context of the War Pensions Scheme, hearing loss due to noise and that due to subsequent effects of age are not more than additive. The aim remains that policy and individual decisions should reflect the latest published peer reviewed scientific evidence and, to that end, we carry out a regular scrutiny of emerging relevant scientific literature.

Iraq

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence pursuant to his answer of 15 July 2004, Official Report, column 1235W, on Iraq, if he will give (a) the date of and, (b) if deceased, the name of the person alleged to have suffered harm during the incident to which he refers.

Adam Ingram: I am withholding this information under Exemption 4 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information.

Manning Control Reviews

Paul Keetch: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to conduct manning control reviews in the next 12 months; and if he will make a statement.

Ivor Caplin: The answer I gave on 19 January 2004, Official Report, column 919W to the hon. Gentlemen is still applicable today.

Military Exports

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what percentage of military equipment produced in the UK was exported in each of the last 10 years.

Adam Ingram: Figures for the value of military equipment that is produced in the UK in any year are not available. In deriving the following table, estimated MOD UK equipment expenditure (including MOD spend with UK industry on research and development, repair and maintenance and assets under construction) have been added to identified exports of military goods to provide an approximation to this figure.
	
		Estimated percentage of military equipment produced in UK which are exported -- Percentage
		
			  Military equipment (goods) exported 
		
		
			 1997–98 32 
			 1998–99 20 
			 1999–2000 12 
			 2000–01 19 
			 2001–02 17 
			 2002–03 9

Non-departmental Public Bodies

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many non-departmental public bodies for which his Department is responsible have been (a) established and (b) abolished since 1997.

Ivor Caplin: The Ministry of Defence has seven executive and 12 advisory non-departmental public bodies (NDPB)s. The following advisory NDPBs have been established in MOD since 1997:
	Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (1998)
	Advisory Group on Medical Countermeasures (1998)
	Nuclear Research Advisory Council (2001)
	The Department also took on the sponsorship role of the Central Advisory Committee on War Pensions and the War Pensions Committees (a multiple body) following the transfer of the Veterans Agency (formerly known as the War Pensions Agency) from the Department for Work and Pensions in 2001.
	The Royal College of Defence Studies Advisory Board and the Royal Military College of Science Advisory Council have been abolished since 1997. In addition the Nuclear Powered Warships Safety Committee and Nuclear Weapons Safety Committees merged in this period to form the Defence Nuclear Safety Committee.
	The National Employers' Liaison Board, later renamed the National Employers' Advisory Board was relaunched in 2002 as "Supporting Britain's Reservists and Employers". Finally the Independent Board of Visitors for Military Corrective Training Centre has recently been re-categorised from an advisory NDPB to an independent monitoring board. Further details on MOD's NDPBs are in the Cabinet Office annual "Public Bodies" publications which can also be found on the Cabinet Office website.

Non-EU Defence Contractors

Gordon Prentice: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what scope there is to amend the Public Procurement Regulations insofar as they relate to Ministry of Defence contracts to regulate the use by UK companies of sub-contractors outside the EU.

Adam Ingram: The Public Procurement Regulations implement in the United Kingdom law the European Union Directives on the award of public sector contracts. They apply to Ministry of Defence procurement on non-warlike goods and services. Neither the Regulations or the Directives regulate the engagement of sub-contractors. As a matter of procurement policy, MOD places responsibility on its prime contractors for securing and demonstrating value for money in meeting defence requirements. To this end, MOD encourages the greatest application of open and fair competition by its prime contractors in the selection of sub-contractors.

Radioactive Waste

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to announce the short list of sites under consideration for storing radioactive waste as part of project ISOLUS; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: holding answer 19 July 2004
	I expect to make an announcement shortly.

Support Vehicles

Bob Laxton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what meetings Ministers in his Department have had with their US counterparts on the Support Vehicle contract; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: No meetings have been held between Ministers and their US counterparts regarding the Support Vehicle contract.

Tanker Aircraft

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the current forecast is for (a) the in-service date and (b) the final cost of the contract to provide new tanker aircraft; what the original projections were; and if he will make a statement.

Adam Ingram: The Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) project is currently in its Assessment Phase and does not have a formally approved in-service date (ISD). At the commencement of the Assessment Phase, ISD was broadly forecast to fall in the period 2007–09. We now believe it will be achieved later than this, but endorsement of a firm planning date for ISD is subject to the outcome of negotiations with industry. The maximum whole life cost of the FSTA programme is currently estimated to be £13.1 billion, at Outturn prices, which compares to an estimate of £13.9 billion at the commencement of the Assessment Phase.

Tornado

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on plans to upgrade the Tornado's anti-aircraft missile self-protection system to combat potential missile threats over the coming decade; whether there is a budget for such an upgrade; and what the in-service date is for this upgraded capability.

Adam Ingram: We have recently completed the assessment phase for the Modular Defensive Aids Systems (MoDAS) project, which is the programme to upgrade the defensive aids system for the Tornado GR4, and we are evaluating the results. A decision on the next phase of the project will be taken as part of the Department's normal planning process.

PRIME MINISTER

Operation Mass Appeal

Adam Price: To ask the Prime Minister 
	(1)  whether he personally approved the setting up of Operation Mass Appeal;
	(2)  what the purpose was of Operation Mass Appeal.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to Lord Butler's report, paragraphs 485 to 489 (House of Commons 898).

Special Advisers

Nigel Evans: To ask the Prime Minister how many of the reductions in the numbers of civil servants in his Office announced in the spending review will be of special advisers.

Tony Blair: I refer the hon. Member to the answer my right hon. Friend, the Chief Secretary for the Treasury (Mr. Boateng), gave to him today at column 190W.

Sudan

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Prime Minister what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs on tackling the situation in Sudan.

Tony Blair: I regularly discuss all aspects of foreign policy, including Sudan, with the Foreign Secretary. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for International Development, also visited Sudan, including Darfur, between 6 and 8 June to assess the situation.
	The UK is fully engaged in Darfur and we have held discussions with our UN, US and EU partners. We have made very clear to the Sudanese Government that they must now take significant steps to improve the security situation and humanitarian access. We have also allocated over £62 million for humanitarian assistance in Darfur.